FNs fødevareorganisation FAO arbejder sammen med Sierra Leones regering for, at de fattiges landbrug skal give mere end familiernes fysiske overlevelse, oplyser FAOs hjemmeside tirsdag.
ROME, 12 April 2011: FAO is working with the Government of Sierra Leone to make sure farmers have better access to quality seeds, fertilizers, machinery and training.
The Government of Sierra Leone means business, too, which is why it is moving full speed ahead with its plan to help the country’s smallholder farmers make the transition from subsistence to commercial farming.
Boiled down, the five-year, 403 million us dollar plan — known as the smallholder commercialisation programme — seeks to help farmers grow more and varied crops, process more of what they produce, and market their goods more effectively.
Around 3,5 million people — roughly two-thirds of the country — depend on agriculture, while some 70 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. By encouraging farmers to “farm for business”, Sierra Leone hopes to lift annual agricultural growth to the 7,7 per cent needed to halve poverty and hunger by 2015.
To achieve this, the Government is working with FAO and other partners to make sure farmers have better access to quality seeds, fertilizers and machinery as well as training — from improved cropping techniques and group governance to financial management and marketing skills.
It is also making a big push to develop irrigation systems, improve feeder roads so that farmers can get their goods to the market and make it easier for them to access financial services.
Agricultural business centres
The agricultural business centre is the centrepiece of the programme — a place in the community where farmers can buy seeds and fertilizers, rent equipment to cut down on labour costs and process, store and market what they harvest.
Efforts are under way to empower existing farmer-based organizations, many of which started out as farmer field schools, to operate these centres on a cost-recovery basis.
“The plan is for the centres eventually to be independent of Government support and external support,” says Kevin Gallagher, former FAO Representative for Sierra Leone. “It is important to get them linked to markets so there are opportunities and new kinds of jobs — not just in farming but in mechanisation and shop keeping.”
With funds from the European Union, Ireland, the Islamic Development Bank and Italy, 192 centres are being built and equipped with rice mills, cassava graters and drying floors, while board members and equipment operators are receiving training.
