(Ecofin Agency) - India is giving Sierra Leone $30 million to boost rice production, Venkaiah Naidu, the Indian Vice President, said after a meeting with the beneficiary country’s President, Julius Maada Bio.

The money will be pumped into the rice development project ongoing in Tomabom, according to daily Sierra Leone Telegraph. This project needs a total of $500 and aims to develop 110,000 ha of rice farms in the focus region.   

To reach this goal, the government plans to purchase the required machinery and tools and set up a seed multiplication unit. The construction of access roads is also planned.

According to authorities, the project’s completion will push rice production to 1.6 million tons by 2023, of which 900,000 tons will go for domestic consumption.

Espoir Olodo