By: Saidu Jalloh
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS), in partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), on Tuesday convened an inception meeting in Freetown to kick-start a soil health initiative aimed at reducing production costs and increasing productivity among smallholder farmers in Sierra Leone.
The meeting, held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between IITA and the Food Systems Resilience Program (FSRP). Under the agreement, IITA will upgrade the Soil Digital Hub developed by the Sierra Leone Agricultural Research Institute (SLARI) and Njala University, with funding support from FSRP. The initiative will also provide capacity-building support for researchers, agricultural extension officers, and FSRP-supported fertilizer laboratory technicians.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Henry Musa Kpaka, commended FSRP for addressing what he described as the long-standing challenge of blanket fertilizer application by farmers. He explained that the initiative will replace generalized fertilizer use with science-based, site-specific solutions tailored to individual soil conditions.
Dr. Kpaka further disclosed that, under the MoU, IITA will deploy artificial intelligence and big data analytics to generate precise fertilizer recommendations. He noted that this approach is expected to significantly lower production costs, improve crop yields, and increase farmers’ incomes.
The FSRP Project Manager, Mr. Kepifri Lakoh, urged stakeholders to explore government-led mechanisms to ensure the sustainability of the initiative beyond the lifespan of FSRP funding, emphasizing the importance of national ownership of the project’s outcomes.
The inception meeting brought together key sector actors, including the Deputy Minister I of Agriculture, Dr. Theresa Tenneh Dick; the Chief Agriculture Officer, Professor Abdulai Jalloh; researchers from IITA and SLARI; FSRP staff; and other development partners and stakeholders.