From Awareness Times

The official launch of the Farmer Development Services (FDS) at the Kontobe Site over the weekend did not come as a surprise to many farmers from various villages that witnessed the important occasion. The FDS is established as a baby of the Farmer Development Programme (FDP), which was designed by Addax Bioenergy Limited as a food security programme to mitigate against cropland that would be lost to its operations.

The FDP is now seen as an institution. It is a separate entity from Addax operations with its own machinery and facilities. With such facilities in place, Addax can attempt to attract and promote partnerships and funding for all agricultural enterprises outside biofuel production.

Clive English is the company’s Social Affairs/FDP Manager. He informed the gathering that services under the FDS will not be free but would be offered at a cost recovery price to residents residing in FDP operations areas.

Mr. English revealed that the FDS will provide services such as ploughing and harrowing, open up new land for cultivation, provide storage and transportation of seeds, transportation of rice to villages, threshing machines, plot demarcation and allocation, support for vegetable gardens and seed nursery for vegetables.

Read more at news.sl