On the occasion of the 2024-2025 agricultural campaign, mining giant Tenke Fungurume has handed over agricultural inputs for more than 1,500 hectares.
Below is the full press release
COMMUNICATIONS
2024-2025 agricultural season. TFM delivers agricultural inputs for over 1,500 hectares in its concession
November marks the start of the rains in the Tenke Fungurume Mining concession area. This is the period of preparation for the agricultural campaign. Tons of agricultural inputs are delivered to the cooperatives and voluntary savings and credit associations (AVEC). A solid support to local agricultural activity. These high-quality inputs are destined for 1,677 growers spread over an area of 1,500 hectares. The first households to be resettled in the concession have already received the agricultural inputs. In the same month, TFM handed over harrows for farm tractors to the local community.
The program to support planters with agricultural inputs is one of TFM’s flagship projects, carried out in strict compliance with the agricultural calendar to enable planters to achieve good results. In collaboration with the two local development committees (CLD) of the Bayeke chiefdom and the Fungurume commune, TFM is providing a batch of 37.5 tonnes of hybrid seed, 375 tonnes of NPK 17-17-17 and 225 tonnes of 46% urea for the 2024-2025 agricultural season. These inputs will be used to sow 1,500 hectares, including 1,000 hectares for the Bayeke chiefdom and 500 hectares for the Fungurume commune. Grouped into four agricultural pools, these planters will benefit from this support throughout the period of TFM’s specifications.
During the distribution, the heads of AVEC and the agricultural cooperatives expressed their gratitude to TFM. “We have just received agricultural inputs: urea, NPK and corn seed. This will considerably boost our productivity. Our hope is that this support will continue and that the specifications will be fully implemented, as drawn up”, said Nimba Kafororo, president of the Buya Bwa Matwi agricultural association in the village of Shonongo. Ifupa Ephrasie from the village of Kabwe Dikuku rightly acknowledged the benefits of the fertilizer and seed supply. In fact, at the end of last agricultural season, beneficiaries were able to pay back 612.8 tonnes of maize to the two CLDs. The long-term aim of the program is to make growers self-sufficient and, at the same time, to integrate new beneficiaries.
Prior to this, the first households to be relocated had also received a special distribution. This involved residents of the villages of Amoni-Kiboko, New Kyamba, New Mitumba and the Kiloville district of Fungurume. They received agricultural inputs worth 12,142 USD, the equivalent of the savings they made in the previous agricultural season, thanks to the support provided by TFM via the NGO AFA. These inputs – NPK 17-17-17, urea, improved seeds and herbicide kits – will enable them to grow around 20 hectares of maize for the 2024-2025 agricultural season.
To guarantee the sustainability and ownership of the project, TFM conducts an introductory program in savings and credit and in entrepreneurship each time, after three years of support. These initiatives enable farmers and stockbreeders to make the transition from voluntary savings and credit associations to cooperatives or entrepreneurial status.
TFM’s various agricultural programs have increased yields from 0.8 tonnes to over 6 tonnes per hectare in its mining concession. Mechanization has played a major role in this. To do even better, TFM handed over 8 harrows to the community, completing the attachment of the 8 tractors handed over last year.
This success demonstrates TFM’s commitment to improving living conditions and promoting food and economic self-sufficiency for local communities.
To the editor
