Taiwan’s Agricultural Technology Lands in East Africa: Taiwan Technical Mission in Somaliland Unveils a Demonstration Farm

[Deeq A.]

 

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Taiwan’s Agricultural Technology Lands in East Africa: Taiwan Technical Mission in Somaliland Unveils a Demonstration Farm
Taiwan’s Agricultural Technology Lands in East Africa: Taiwan Technical Mission in Somaliland Unveils a Demonstration Farm
The TaiwanICDF and Somaliland’s cooperation project Improving Production and Quality of Vegetables and Fruits officially opened the Demonstration Farm on October 4, 2021. The opening ceremony was co-hosted by H.E. Amb. Allen Chenhwa Lou, Taiwan Representative in the Republic of Somaliland, and Hon. Mohamed Haji Osman, Minister of Agricultural Development of the Republic of Somaliland. During the ceremony, Minister Osman praised the Demonstration Farm as the first “fruit” of the joint efforts between the two countries. He hoped that through this farm, more Taiwanese superior agricultural technologies would benefit local farmers.

The Demonstration Farm is located in Arabsiyo town, 44 km west of Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. Mr. Mars Shiue, Leader of the Taiwan Technical Mission (TTM), said that he would choose to set up the farm here because of the precious underground water source. With the efforts of TTM, facilities such as pumping stations, water storage barrels, greenhouses, fields and warehouse offices have been established in order to allow the proper use of water resources. On the other hand, TTM plans to cultivate tomato, asparagus, cantaloupe and other crops with a drip irrigation system to display water-saving cultivation. TTM also collects field waste to make compost, and demonstrates circular economy and environmental friendly cultivation.

On the opening day, Farmer Group Chairman Nimco Maxamuud brought farmers from Xamdi, and stood by the field and told them that “following training from TTM, these crops will soon be harvested in their own farms, and will be sold at a good price to improve family livelihoods.”
There are now 3 farmer groups with a total of 116 farmers as the core farmers of this project. TTM will tailor a series of cultivation management knowledge and value chain improvement courses and field training for them. The successful Taiwanese agricultural model will be well-known in East Africa through these core farmers and the Demonstration Farm.

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