Betteh Tumara Punduru (BTP), developed in collaboration with LNI in the UK and Lifeline Nehemiah Projects in Sierra Leone is supported by the Big Lottery Fund.
Since we launched BTP in July 2017, we are excited by the support we have received form the community. The opportunities to make a lasting difference, the challenge is to restrict ourselves to just a few projects.
Based in rural Punduru in Kenema district, this agricultural programme aims to equip local farmers with the tools, training, and access to markets that they need to increase the quality and quantity of their yield, secure a better price for their crops and increase productivity and profits.
Using the Field Farm School method, 100 farming units will be created, where 500 landowners and unemployed young people come together to effectively farm the available land using sustainable farming methods. An additional 40 young people will benefit from micro-enterprises and loans, previously unavailable in this area, to establish themselves in business.
Mentoring alongside with additional literacy, numeracy, life skills and business skills training combined with access to micro-finance will transform subsistence living into sustainable farming.
The programme will also promote the human and legal rights of women, young people and people with disabilities through community engagement methods and training, aiming to raise awareness, understanding and access to their legal and human rights, leading to improved opportunities for personal, social and economic development.
The whole village and its paramount chiefs are on board, and this feels like a pivotal point for the community at a time when it is vital to invest in Sierra Leone.
As you can see from the above pictures, we have made great strides already. Whilst classes have already begun, building work on the office, store and a drying floor has been completed.
At the end of March 2017, our second set of cohorts sat down to take their exams we look forward to seeing the next steps.
