By Kemo Cham
In Levuma Village, just outside Waterloo in the Western Rural District, agriculture is the mainstay of the population. This, however, looks set to change as many farmers here are indecisive as to what to make of their lifelong trade which doesn't appear to be meeting their expectations these days.
They hardly have scientific proofs, but the people in this predominantly farming community are in no doubt that changing rainfall pattern forms a greater part of the puzzle. Scientists attribute this to the effect of climate change.
Sulayman Augustus John of the Kergber Farmers, which is part of the ambitious Levuma Agro-tourist centre, situated just at the entrance of the village, is only waiting for the first rains.
"We are thinking of cultivating crops which can withstand the current weather conditions, like mango and pineapple," he says.
Due to inadequate rainfall, the traditional crops they are used to, which ensured regular income, are no longer doing fine, occasioning disappointment during harvest seasons. The situation looks so dire that even the usually tough Moringa plants in Sulayman's farm are clearly having a rough time.
Momoh Koroma is among those who have already made up their minds. He has since abandoned farming for masonry, which, he contends, guarantees reliable income.
High vulnerability or, simply put, climate change is varying weather patterns over a long period of time. It results from temperature changes in the earth's atmosphere through what is called global warming.
Whether or not it is reality has long ceased to be the debate around this contentious phenomenon. How to tackle its effects is the issue.
Among its familiar manifestations are seasonal droughts, thunderstorms, landslides, heat waves, floods and the unpredictable rainfall patterns.
As of last October, according to the Climate Change Vulnerability Index by UK-based risk analysis firm Maplecroft, Sierra Leone is the country that is 3rd most at risk to climate change, behind Bangladesh and Guinea Bissau.
The factors that lead to this categorization are diverse, but it boils down to ability to withstand climate change impact.
Experts say institutional capacity and lack of government commitment have held Sierra Leone back from benefiting from globally funded adaptation programmes. Poor communities like Levuma tend to suffer the most due to the high vulnerability of crop production to the phenomenon, and this constitutes a significant development concern.
The country used to experience an equal period of six months of rainy and dry seasons.
"This is no longer the case", says Bockari Alpha, Acting Director at the Meteorology Department.
Some parts of the country, he says, experience more rains than before, and others, less. "This way it has become only a matter of guessing for farmers as to when to plant their crops."
This is supported by a 2013 study: 'Coping with the effect of weather changes in rural Sierra Leone'.
The research by academics at the University of Sierra Leone's department of geography was published in the International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, and it outlines the dire situation farmers are going through.
Out of 250 people, drawn from five rural settlements in Kambia and Kono, 76 percent said weather patterns were seriously changing and that this was affecting their production capability.
The researchers, headed by Kabba Santigie Bangura, found that lack of reliable meteorological information was proving unhelpful and identified a number of policy recommendations, among them encouraging collective and adaptive environmental management practices and the strengthening of the resilience of rural people.
According to current UNDP predictions, Sierra Leone could lose between $600 million and $1.1 billion annually in crop revenues by the end of the century, due to climate change.
Identified programmes damage on the physical environment is even more visible, as indicative of a large part of coastal Sierra Leone - from Lungi to Lakkah to Bunce Island.
Due to sea level rise and soil erosion, at Lungi-Conakry Dee town for instance, two landmarks have been rendered irrelevant - a former presidential retreat built by President Siaka Stevens, and the defunct Eureka Hotel, are both gradually being marooned by the advancing sea.
The recurrence of floods during the rainy season, particularly in Freetown, remains a major cause for concern. All these only call for urgent action in not just identifying but also implementing mitigation and adaptation programmes, says Mr Alpha, a former university lecturer.
The good news is, Sierra Leone is party to both the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and its 1997 Kyoto Protocol, under which framework the Green Climate Fund (GCF) was founded.
Through this, developed nations tasked themselves to raising $100 billion to help developing countries, which are party to the protocol, undertake adaptation programmes.
There are several other climate change financing programmes tap from.
As of February 2014, Sierra Leone was entitled to $12m, out of a total of $25m. Despite having identified a total of 28 projects for possible funding, the country couldn't access this fund because the right institutions aren't in place.
"Climate change is money but it needs huge input and that is one area the government is yet to invest in," says the Meteorological Department boss.
The veteran academic adds that tight budgetary allocation means his department, for instance, only concentrates on ensuring sustenance of administrative operations rather than strengthening technical capacities.
The right funding "will ensure provision of important meteorological information to farmers."
Jobless young people, Bangura and team, in their study, highlight the significance of available and reliable meteorological data, the absence of which they say was making it hard for farmers to make informed decision.
If farmers sow their seeds and they turns out to be either too early or too late, they find themselves in the dilemma of how to replace 'wasted seeds', the report notes.
"This is about life and death, so there is need for them to come up with something that will keep them going," the lead researcher was later quoted as saying at the official launch of the report in London.
Between 60 and 70 percent of the Sierra Leone population is one way or the other dependent on farming for a living, according to the FAO.
Therefore, the fact erratic rainfall forces farmers to seek alternative ways of making money to meet their needs spells doom for the environment.
At Levuma, for instance, a growing population of jobless youth, who have decided farming is not a desirable trade, have resorted to cutting down nearby forests and burning woods to make charcoal and sell to earn money.
"This means no trees and low rainfall," laments John.
As it is, the country can`t access its adaptation fund allocation until what is known as the National Implementing Entity (NIE) is constituted.
This body, according to Momodu Bah of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)`s Climate Change Secretariat, is required in place for any country to access these funds.
Bah says the NIE will in effect be the custodian of the fund, partially approving projects to be considered for possible funding.
The first discussion on its formation was only held in February. And given the pace at which the process is going, it is not likely that any locally engineered adaption programme will be implemented anytime soon.
Meanwhile, areas with huge tourist potential, like the coastal beaches, are busy "sinking".
(C) Politico 13/03/14
