Agriculture plays a crucial role in the development of national economies. For cash crops such as cocoa, there are growing concerns about declining output due mainly to aging and diseased trees as seen in Sierra Leone where yields are becoming low partly because of extensive cultivation practices and the use of old varieties.
In the bid to over this challenge, the Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (AVDP)is supporting smallholder farmers in Sierra Leone to cultivate 6,000 hectares of new cocoa plantation by providing the farmers with climate resilient hybrid seeds, agrochemicals and ensuring that they arelinked to private sector markets to increase their incomes.
As a result, on the 11th June, at the AVDP Head office in BO, the Project signed Memorandum of Agreements(MOA) with the Agric Engineering Division, Crops and Extension division and Planning, Evaluation, Monitoring and Statistics Divisions of MAF and the Sierra Leone Agricultural Research Institute (SLARI).
1) The MOA with SLARI is to establish 15 hectares of cocoa seed garden/nursery (10 hectare in Pendembu and 5 hectare in Kpuwabu), east of Sierra Leone. The nurseries will serve as sources of planting materials that will be distributed to farmers across the country for the production and replanting of cocoa seedlings. The AVDP Project Manager, Abdul Rahman Bob Conteh said that the $249.329contract, awarded to SLARI will be implemented over a period of one year. “Our intention as a project is to help facilitate the revival of the two clonal gardens to ensure we stop the importation of planting materials from neighbouring countries in the near future”, Said Mr Bob Conteh. He maintained that as part of their obligations, SLARI will engage in mass production of elite cocoa materials through accelerated propagation technology such as budding and pollination of possible crosses with the hope of developing high yielding and pest/disease resistant cocoa varieties for seed garden development and distribution to farmers. “SLARI will also investigate into the use of bye-products of cocoa pods in making juice wine and black soap”, Mr Conteh noted.
2) The MOAs with the Crops and Extension Divisions of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) isto support the establishment and operation of cocoa and oil palm Farmer Field School (FFS) to enhance farmers’ knowledge and skills in tree crop production and the supervision of tree crop implementation (Indicate the amount of the MOA)
3) The $37,975MOA with Agric Engineering Division of the ministry is to complement the supervision and technical backstopping of the Inland Valley Swamp rehabilitation/development of the project so that farmers’ yields will be increased.
4) To ensure effective monitoring of the project deliverables, the AVDP is providing $56,350 to PEMSD, the Planning, Evaluation & Monitoring and Statistic division of MAF to ensure that the project M&E system feeds into MAF’s overall system of tracking and reporting results of agricultural interventions in Sierra Leone.
The signing ceremony which was witnessed by the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Mr. Dennis K Vandi who also officially commissioned 60 motor bikes worth (SAME) to be used by the MAF District Officers to carry out field activities for the tree crop component. This support is crucial in advancing the symbiotic relationship between the project, its implementing partners and the farmers in the fight against poverty and enhancing economic growth. The total value of the MOAs and the motor Bikes is $671,545.
The overall objective of the AVDP is to increase incomes for smallholder farmers through the promotion of agriculture as a business with its three main value chains of Rice, Oil Palm, Cocoa and vegetables to be implemented nationwide in the 16 districts.