February 19, 2021
By: Mohamed Kargbo
Mr. Sam-King Brima, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Forestry has told Journalists that his Ministry has started the registration of farmers across the country. He made the disclosure Wednesday, 17th February, 2021 at the weekly Ministry of Information and Communication press briefing convened in the Conference Room, 8th Floor, Youyi Building, Freetown.
“Headquarter Staff and District Officers at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAFs) Male and female staff of the Ministry of Youth Affairs tested the registration tool a week ago, and the nationwide registration started Monday this week and it will go on for the next three weeks,” Mr. Sam-King Brima said.
According to the Deputy Minister, the purpose of this exercise is to register and identify our farmers and also take nationwide coordinate of the farming blocks.
He said the farmers registration is ongoing in all districts including the Western Rural and Western Urban.
He noted that the coordinates will be collected to verify our farmers and ascertain the number of acreage that are or will be under cultivation.
He further stated that it will also provide the location for our famers and also provide the private sector positioning of the Agro-dealers and Agro-chemicals across the country. This will help Government to correctly obtain the number of input spending across the country.
The Minister maintained that, the farmer registration is just one catalyst to the successful implementation and roll-out of the shift that is why the Ministry deemed it necessary for the public to be informed and actively participate in the process.
“Our policy shift as defined goes beyond the normal policy shift that articulates the Government intent to shift approach of agricultural development from Government central activities to that of the private sector taking the lead,” Sam-King Brima asserted.
He added that: “This is also to build our national database that will capture our farmers and capture the support that stems from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Government of Sierra Leone to our farmers but also capture the output and production of our farmers.”
He disclosed that, the information that they would gather will go a long way in addressing issues of accessible and marginalized communities.
He also pointed out that issues related to the greater policy shift have been initiated or partly completed such as the assessment of the machinery which has been done and the results will be given and issued to the procurement authority of the National Public Procurement Agency (NPPA).
He used the occasion to disclose that the National Public Procurement Agency has completed the procurement process of the transportation of machines across the country.
Highlighting the significance of digitalization, the Minister said different private sector players have demonstrated modules of digital architecture for vouchers issuing and redemption for famers and that this is an integral part of the broader policy shift that Government intends to roll-out in supporting farming communities.
The Minister also mentioned that, the asset mapping exercise has collected information on mass properties that could be used to house machinery and other asset distribution or asset utilization across the country.
He further said, the National Asset Mapping aim to identify and assess the state of MAFs properties across the country and is useful in case the private sector would like to use Ministries assets in the process of rolling-out private sector led agriculture transformation nationwide.
The Minister said his Ministry is working closely with the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) in helping them to provide unique identifiers for farmers that will trace and track to distribution of inputs.
He also stated that the Ministry of Agriculture is working with the Ministry of Youth Affairs to ensure the farming exercise that captures and catalogue youth farmers across the country, which can enable MAFs to provide guidance to such youthful farmers nationwide.
Minister King made mention of engaging community radio stations to make sure that the data collection process across the country is given visibility for community responsiveness and networking.
He disclosed that data collection is complete for the national asset mapping and analysis is also done. A-Z Newspaper has gathered that a comprehensive report and analysis presentation is underway.