By Yusufu S. Bangura
In a bid to support farmers, the Sierra Leone Chamber for Agribusiness Development (SLeCAD), in partnership with African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), based in Kenya, has on Friday launched capacity building project for both youths and women farmers in Port-Loko district.
Speaking at the launching ceremony, Executive Secretary for SLeCAD, Ahmed Nanoh, said the objective of the project is to promote awareness and understanding among beneficiaries and stakeholders at the district and national levels about the project.
He continued that in Sierra Leone, less emphasis has been placed on developing the capacities of women and youths and creating an enabling environment for viable participation in the agriculture sector. As a result, the participation of women and youths in the agricultural value chain has been passive.
“The need for women and youths’ participation in agriculture can be measured by the facts that on average, women make up 43 percent of the agricultural labour force. That is respectively higher or lower in developing countries. Most female farmers are smallholders engaged in subsistence farming.The women control less land than men and have comparatively limited access to service provisions. ACBF has therefore hired the services of SLeCAD to implement on its behalf, capacity building of 250 women and youth owned agribusiness SMEs in the Sierra Leone,” he said.
Nanoh stated that the funding they were providing to farmer is not for them to eat, but to invest in their farms and better their lives.
He said they have been in existence for 15 years now, and that the chamber is a private organization, established by the Africa Union to boost agriculture in the country.
“Most of the food we consume are imported, but all these food are being produced by farmers. Sierra Leone can produce all those imported goods, but we don’t have the industries and we don’t embark on intensive farming, so that’s why we as an organization will answer all these question asked by farmers and how to set up industries, also to support seed growers and many others and to also empower farmers,” he said.
“With this project, we want to change the lives of farmers because we have seen much discrimination against farmers as most people think faming is for poor people, but we want to change those narratives. The project is a one year project which will end in 2025, therefore we are expecting to build the capacity of 120 famers. We also decided to choose Porto Loko District for this project because they are producing a lot of farm product which they can use for this project to do well,” he ended.
Mohamed Alie Fargo Kanu, Youth Leader, thanked SLeCAD for empowering them as most of his colleagues always thought that agriculture is for drop out people, but that he has proven them wrong because he has a first degree in Business Management.
“When I was in the University, my mother who is a gardener paid my fees throughout. And, from there I developed the motivation to venture into agriculture. I believed that agriculture is oxygen for any country’s economy. I therefore want to motivate my fellow youths for them to go into agriculture and see the outcome of it,” he said.
Kanu expressed his profound thanks to SLeCAD for giving him the knowledge in business farming.
Ya Alimamy H. Sesay, National Federation of Farmers in Sierra Leone Coordinator, also commended SLeCAD for a job well done as she is one of the beneficiaries of SLeCAD.
She noted that their organization advocates for framers because they were seeing so many projects coming to the district but cannot reach the farmers.
Chief Pa Alimamy Conteh of Bakeh Loko Chiefdom, Port Loko District expressed his sincere thanks to SLeCAD, and also affirmed that they will hold the project with both hands for the development of their chiefdom and their lives.
