Boosting the Agricultural Sector in Sierra Leone

As a result, the country’s economy imploded and one-third of its people became refugees.

Now, in 2006, four years after the end of the war, the country is on the move once again.

Sierra Leone is estimated to be 65 per cent self-sufficient in rice production. The import of additional rice hullers and rice mills has reduced post-harvest losses. Extensive over-mature plantations of cashew, cocoa, coffee and oil palm -- which total more than 60,000 acres (24,000 hectares) -- are now being replanted with modern hybrids from Malaysia and Ghana which can produce eight times the yield of over-mature stock.

The Commonwealth has made major contributions to this turnaround through the provision of a Director-General to Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security.

Patrick Hanmer -- a British tropical forester supported by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) -- was tasked with kick-starting the delivery of government services and the revival of the agricultural sector. He completed his two-year assignment on 8 August 2006.

“Three-quarters of the population of Sierra Leone depend on agriculture for their livelihood. It was President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah who first stressed the need for the country’s agricultural sector to be transformed,” said Mr Hanmer, who assisted the Government in the development of up-to-date agricultural food security policies and acted as a facilitator to bring in donor funds.

Mr Hanmer worked with the Ministry to diversify crops and move away from concentrating on distributing seed rice and fertilisers. He has also worked towards re-establishing tree crops such as cocoa, coffee and cashew and the rearing of cattle, both of which provide good revenue for the economy through exports.

The CFTC also provided around £30,000 for the purchase of equipment for a new cashew factory which was built by the UK Government’s Department for International Development in the north-west district of Cambia.

Furthermore, the export of organic rice to the western markets -- where premium profitable prices can be achieved -- is currently being tested.
“From policy initiatives set up in export commodities during the past two years, trade in export commodities should progressively increase over the next seven years,” said Mr Hanmer.

“It is hoped that the country will be more self-reliant and that the level of exports will enable donors, who largely underpin the economy at the present time, to channel their limited resources into other, complementary areas, such as education, health and the judiciary.”

To help maintain momentum in revitalising the agricultural sector, upwards of US$117 million is now being provided by multilateral and bilateral donors over the next five years.

“This is an indication of donor countries’ confidence in helping Sierra Leone,” said Richard Gold, Interim Director of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Governance and Institutional Development Division, which managed Mr Hanmer’s project.

“Our expert has successfully assisted with the diversification of the agricultural sector in Sierra Leone by adding-value processing, providing access to markets and ensuring the ‘right price’ is obtained for export commodities.”

CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service, Issue 300, 30 August 2006

Secretariat Links:

• CFTC
• Economics and Trade
• Country Profile: Sierra Leone
• Public Sector Development