Pests ravage Toukpeh Cooperative rice stored in MOA warehouse; farmers demand better SADFONS implementation

Published: November 19, 2025

HARPER, Maryland County — Farmers of the Toukpeh Cooperative in Harper are raising alarm after months of watching their harvested rice deteriorate inside a Ministry of Agriculture warehouse, saying pests, insects, and rats have destroyed large portions of their seed stock while promised support under the SADFONS project has failed to materialize.

The farmers say the losses are mounting and morale is collapsing, with many members abandoning the cooperative entirely. They are now appealing to the Smallholder Agriculture Development for Food and Nutrition Security (SADFONS) project and its funder, the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), to immediately intervene with better tools, treatment materials, financing, and market linkages.

Speaking during a GAFSP Impact Review visit, cooperative member Madam Mamalo Brisby said the group has received “no support whatsoever” since storing their harvested seed rice in the MOA warehouse. Under the SADFONS design, the Toukpeh Cooperative was designated as a seed-multiplication group and was supposed to receive technical support, market linkages, and training from the Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI).

“Since we harvested this rice and stored it, no one has come to link us to buyers. Meanwhile insects and rats are eating everything,” Brisby said. “We have worked hard without any benefits. Our cooperative has dropped from forty-six members to just fifteen. Many women have left farming because there is no motivation.”

Before SADFONS was introduced in 2022, the cooperative produced rice, cassava, and vegetables on three hectares of land and averaged five tons of rice per harvest. But after the project began, their farmland was reduced to two hectares — and farmers say an agricultural company allegedly occupied roughly 75 percent of their fields. Their most recent harvest amounted to only forty-three 25kg bags of rice.

CARI field officer Robertson J. Gwekole acknowledged delays but said his institution has limited control over its own budget, which affects training and extension services. He added that the lack of farmer motivation remains a serious challenge. But farmers insist the problems run deeper, pointing to inconsistent support, fragmented project management, and long gaps between intervention phases.

According to them, SADFONS was initially introduced as a direct project implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, but later subcontracting to multiple partners created “serious bottlenecks” that disrupted funding, logistics, and follow-up.

“When SADFONS brings money or materials, they should come directly to us through our cooperative,” said member Daniel F. Chea. “If that were the case, we would have sold our rice by now. Instead, it is rotting.”

Chea also urged the project to build proper concrete irrigation canals, arguing that mud canals collapse easily and waste donor resources. “If they build them with cement, it will last for generations,” he said. “That would make a real impact.”

The farmers say the biggest setback remains the absence of a viable storage and distribution system. Their rice, harvested in August 2024, has sat in the warehouse for more than fifteen months, steadily deteriorating due to poor ventilation, lack of fumigation, and absence of market linkages.

They want SADFONS and GAFSP to provide a direct grant, enabling them to expand production, hire labor, and support women farmers — many of whom, they say, have dropped out due to lack of support. The cooperative believes that with direct financial backing, they could rehabilitate their fields, improve post-harvest systems, and restore production levels.

“We have many women here,” the cooperative noted in a joint statement. “If we receive a grant, we can hire laborers to clear the fields while the women focus on planting and protecting the crops.”

As the assessment continues, farmers hope the visiting ActionAid delegation and project partners will push for reforms that ensure real benefits for cooperatives and prevent future crop losses.

For now, the Toukpeh Cooperative remains demoralized, watching its once-promising seed rice decline in a warehouse that was meant to protect — not destroy — their hard-earned harvest.