Africa-Press – Eswatini. The Republic of China (Taiwan) has donated E4 million worth of tractor drawn farm implements to the ministry of agriculture. The implements included harrows, ploughs, planters and sprayers amongst other items.
Minister of Agriculture Jabulani Mabuza and Minister of Economic Planning Dr Tambo Gina received the items on behalf of government.
Mabuza said these implements had come at an opportune time when the farming season was about to commence and government was facing serious shortages of mechanised tillage equipment to provide services to the farmers, particularly the smallholders who had limited resources to purchase their own equipment.
“The role played by these farmers in food production is highly significant. It is therefore my belief that these implements will make a significant contribution towards improving delivery of our tractor hire service being run by National Maize Corporation (NMC), and subsequently ensure that the country moves towards self-sufficiency in food production,” he said.
Mabuza mentioned that as the whole world was working on strategies to ensure that food was available in light of many adversaries, climate change in particular that had interrupted food supply, these implements would play a significant role in improving local production of food commodities, particularly maize.
Minimize He said the implements were well suited for the country’s conditions and it was their hope that they would minimise the delays they had experienced over the years as a result of shortages and breakdowns.
“With the fleet of tractors that we received last year, we are looking forward to a great improvement in service delivery with reduced downtime. We are counting on NMC to monitor the usage and ensure proper maintenance of the implements,” Mabuza said.
Procurement Representing Ambassador Jeremy Liang was Minister Counsellor Embassy of Taiwan Oliver Han who said the procurement of tractor drawn farm implements project seeks to improve the efficiency of the tractor hire service provided by the National Maize Corporation. “The implementing agency of this project was funded in the sum of E4 million (USD280 000.00) under the 2022 Bilateral Cooperation Budget Proposal.
“I firmly believe that the project is helpful for the local farming community to increase crop harvest,” he said. Han explained that the government of Taiwan attached great importance to bilateral cooperation projects with Eswatini and they had partnered with the Eswatini government and were working together for the national development and the improvement of the livelihood of the people.
“In order to strengthen technical cooperation with Eswatini extensively, Taiwan’s Technical Mission currently works with the ministry of agriculture to implement three projects, including fruit tree production and marketing project (Phase II), pig industry enhancement project (phase Il) and the aquaculture project,” he said.
He mentioned that each project had run very smoothly so far and they look forward to seeing the benefits and results of these projects and contributing to Emaswati with a healthier diet and future. Minister Gina said they were grateful for the relationship that Taiwan has with Eswatini.
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