By Ragan M. Conteh
Solidaridad West Africa in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has ended a four-day training of trainers’ workshop on Responsible Agriculture Investment in Freetown.
The four-day’ workshop took place at the Sierra Palms Hotel at Aberdeen Beach in Freetown. The workshop is a roadmap to enhance gender responsible investment and women’s participation in decision making processes in Sierra Leone.
It is also aimed at strengthening the capacities of key actors especially womenfolk to learn events on Responsible Agricultural Investment (RIA) and food systems targeting rural women. Closing the four-day workshop, the Country Representative, Solidaridad West Africa, Andrew Kojo Morrison expressed thanks and appreciation to participants who were drawn from different districts across the country for their commitment to women empowerment issues.
According to Morrison, there is a need to improve on participation of women in agriculture in communities to take decisions on their own and become the champions in food productivity.
He acclaimed participants for their zealousness in the last four-day training of trainers and for their participation in the workshop geared towards the empowerment of women in their various jurisdictions.
He also spoke on women’s empowerment and how the law guarantees women’s rights to own land, assuring that the training is going to be a continuous process which will improve knowledge on women farmers.
At the commencement of the four-day training, the Capacity Development Expert, Food and Agriculture Organisation -FAO of the United Nations based at its headquarters in Rome, Italy, Maud Oustry revealed that rural women are the backbone of food security in Sierra Leone, comprising 70 per cent of the agricultural labour workforce.
She said the training aims at strengthening the capacities of key actors to learn events on Responsible Agricultural Investment (RIA) and food systems targeting rural women.
Maud Oustry said women will learn how to use the methodology and practice several facilitation techniques.
She said they started a responsible investment in agriculture in Sierra Leone in 2020 through a participatory multi-stakeholder process.
Oustry disclosed that the workshop is a roadmap to enhance gender responsive investment and women’s participation in decision making processes in Sierra Leone.
A participant, Mustapha Keita from Pujehun District, expressed satisfaction with the four-day training workshop that has broadened his knowledge on agribusiness activities.
He said the training has expanded his outlook with a pool of skills training which training he vowed to replicate to rural women in the districts.
According to Mustapha Keita the four-day workshop has also equipped his mind on how to engage in responsible agriculture investment.
He said the responsible agriculture investment has deep underpinnings and is focusedon ensuring that women take leading roles in the society.
He said the training was quiet effective and revolutionary, adding that he had not witnessed any training of such nature that sought to promote and make rural women viable and responsible as well as have mutual respect in their communities.
He said he expects to diffuse the ideas gained to his district, adding that he will share the ideas and methodology he learnt from the workshop to rural women.
A participant from the Regional Rice Value Change Under the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, FatmataBintaJalloh, expressed appreciation to Solidaridad West Africa and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for the wonderful training.
She said the responsible agricultural investment is a new concept, disclosing that she has been work in the ministry but never witnessed such workshop that aims to boost rural women farmers.
She said the workshop showed things and concepts that women are supposed to do to expand their knowledge on faming, adding that the workshop teaches on challenges communities are facing which are land grabbing and frustration.
Jalloh furthered that she learnt a lot about responsible agricultural investment especially that it is geared towards liberating the challenges women face in agriculture.
She maintained that she also learnt how to analyse challenges, how they affect women and how to find solutions to these barriers or challenges.
BintaJalloh went further that the most beneficialthing she learnt in the four-day training is how women participate in the decision making processes, participate on policy formulations especially when the customary land right for women is now a law in Sierra Leone.
She appreciated the good methodology the facilitators used to teach them during the workshop, especially on the acting or drama, video visuals and posters which enabled rural women to understand and take ownership of their rights to land and farming activities.
She pledged to replicate the trainings to their various communities by identifying women who are grassroots in their community and follow the steps they learnt from the training.
She also intends to involve stakeholders and other prominent personalities in the communities and to make use of their communities.
Steven Mammy from Moyamba District said the reason he applied for the training of trainers was to lean new ideas and learn on critical aspects that will benefit rural women and communities.
He went on that the training is well adapted to rural women and is centred around rural women on agribusiness. Steven Mammy also said he has learnt the idea of creating space for rural women in agriculture.
He spoke about the challenges rural women face which includes cultural challenges, lack of finance, kids and lack of involvement on policy formulations. He said training will be replicated to enable women to get involve in agribusinesses, decision making and to know the Land Right Act.
Mary Alpha-CEO Media Alliance in Agriculture Ministry said she has used the media over the years to advocate on safe agriculture for women.
She said the training has equipped her with methodology especially on the use of audio visual, adding that the laws are their but women didn’t know aboutthem.
She said she has been in the field for long and has the heart’s desire to promote women in agriculture in Sierra Leone.
She stated that the training has added more value to her work for rural women’s empowerment, adding that rural women need to be aware of their rights and how they can make their input in the decision making process.
Mary Alpha said she is optimistic about replicating the training to the rural communities, adding,‘real issues will come out and how to handle these issues locally’.
She revealed that lack of skills, access to finance, and policy formulation are the major challenges for women in Sierra Leone.