By Saio Marrah
Parliament of Sierra Leone has approved a total of over 50 million dollars deal for Agricultural value chain development project, of which 15 million dollars is a loan from the OPEC Fund for International Development.
The 15 million dollar loan is for the implementation of rural agricultural production feeder roads.
The grant and loan agreement got ratified with five other agreements on Wednesday 21st December, 2022, were tabled in Parliament on Monday 19th December this year.
The Deputy Minister of Finance, Sheku F. Bangura, informed parliamentarians that the project aims to improve livelihoods, food security, climate change resilient and assist rural farming households in the country.
He said it will increase the income of 200 farmers through promotional agricultural businesses.
The project he said is mainly funded by International Funded for Agricultural Development (IFAD) with resources from its multiple circles, climate adaptation fund, and rural stimulus funds, with a total of fifty million, five hundred and eighty nine thousand, nine hundred and sixty three dollars ($50,589,963).
He noted that the project has three components of which one is the climate resilient and climate smart agricultural production. He said that component focuses on three core interventions that will support financing of small holder rice production and productivity.
This he said will be technical assistance service through farm field schools, for a total of 10, 625 rice farmers for the development of inland valley swamps for double tripping cropping of rice, seeds, mechanised farming services, fish farming, irrigation enhancement, among others.
The second component he said will be support to tree crop production and productivity. This he said will focus on having technical assistance for a total of 15,000 tree crops, six thousand of which will be cocoa and nine thousand of palm fruit.
He said this will also include the establishment of one hectare for crop of fallow or abandoned agricultural land.
Bangura said the third aspect of the project will focus on support to small holders of vegetable and tuber production. This he said will also finance the improvement of vegetable seeds, fertilizers and agro chemical.
He said it will also set up irrigation mechanism and land preparation for the related activities. On and off farm storage facilities he said will be supported by the project as well.
He also talked about agricultural market development, which he said is basically to support market access for farmers.
It will cover rehabilitation of feeder roads an area of 420 kilometres, 350 kilometres of farm track, rehabilitation of trunk roads and rehabilitation of ware houses to improve produce drying and storage capacity.
A member of parliament from main opposition, Mark Mahmoud Kalokoh, after applauding the purpose of the loan, called on the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to pay attention to its implementation.
He pointed out that there will be no value for money if proper monitoring is not conducted.
He also noted that every year government embarks on tree planting, but no modalities have been put in place to prevent wild fires from destroying those trees being planted.
Kaloko said most agricultural produce are only found in the urban area while the rural communities where they are grown do not benefit. He also called on MOF to ensure improved training of the farmers.
Another lawmaker from the ruling party, Ibrahim Tawa Conteh, made reference to Ivory Coast, which he said may not have fertile soil like Sierra Leone for cocoa farming but is doing well in its production and processing up to the finished chocolate product.
This he said has cushioned their exchange rate despite the fact that they also rely heavily on the importation of their staple food, rice.
He therefore urged for the locally produced goods to be processed into finished product. This he said will bring more money into the country and help the Leone currency to stop depreciating against the dollar.
Other debaters raised serious concerns in relation to the implementation of the projects to ensure they benefit Sierra Leoneans.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (23/12/22)
