By: Saidu Jalloh
The Permanent Secretary of The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Andrew L. Sorie, has on the biliterial budget discussion organized by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development revealed that over 500 million dollars of various food items have been imported annually in Sierra Leone.
Before the presentation, National Director of Budget at the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Jah who doubles as the chaired of the biliterial budget discussion cautioned the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to tailor their presentation with the flagship program of the government which is the ‘Feed Salone.’
“Sierra Leone must grow enough to feed itself in the immediate term. The country imports annually over 500 Million Dollars of various food items. A key objective of the Feed Salon Programme is to gradually reduce this in the next five years. We will increase local production in key value chains, such as rice poultry products (eggs and chicken), Onions, vegetables oils, and dairy products to reduce their importation,” Andrew L. Sorie said. He also said that if this 500m dollar was laid in the bank of Sierra Leone and, it would have solved a lot of problems in our economy, so he encouraged the audience to participate in agriculture as that would help reduce importation of food items.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr. Andrew L. Sorie highlighted the mandate, mission and vision of the ministry. He highlighted mandate that, is to stimulate and support sustainable and diversified production of food ( crops and animals ), ensuring food sufficiency, gainful employment and preventing the environment also he said the mission, is to develop, implement and adopt of appropriate policies, programs and institutional management systems towards enhancing agricultural development through commercialization and private sector promotion, and he added vision also in which he said are: to make agriculture the Engine for socio – economic growth and development towards achieving food security, employment opportunities and poverty reduction.
Mr. Andrew L. Sorie affirmed that agriculture must be a source of significant foreign exchange generation, as the sector contributes 57.5% to the GDP in 2022 total GDP at market price 2022 was SLL 48,905,104, with the Agriculture sector contributing SLL 28,100,880 (source: Stats SL-Reoort on the 2021 – 2022 Real GDP).
Mr. Andrew L. Sorie also assured the audience job creation and income generation is a must for the Agriculture sector in paying a living wage. He said although 65% of the population gets their livelihood from agriculture, formal jobs in the sector are limited and wages in the sector are lowest, and that the Feed Salone Programme would focus on value addition and market linkages to create jobs industrial zones in key production centres that would create jobs for thousands of women and youth.
Also in the presentation, The Assistant Director of Crops, Mr. Yayah Mansaray also spoke about the strategic pillars of ministry in which he said that mechanisation and irrigation is a component that would aim to increase land under cultivation for our key value chains, Sierra Leone use less than 20% of arable land for agriculture, The Feed Salone Programme aims to at least double that amount in the next five years. He added that they are currently have no functional irrigation system, this component will deliver irrigation systems that supports year – round cultivation in key production zones through the introduction of machines to facilitate and enhance large scale farming.
Mr. Yayah Mansaray expressed that seed and component system would focus on building a sustainable pipeline of high quality seeds for target value chains and developing a system for delivering other inputs such as fertilizer and agro – chemicals, he also stated that the project will link research efforts at SLARI to the Feed Salone Programme, he said that would also characterize our soils that they were smart about how they supplement nutrients.
The Assistant Director of Crops, Mr. Yayah Mansaray also gave the importance of livestock department in which he said that is to conduct performance of veterinary services (PVS) to ascertain the capacity of the CVL and the livestock and veterinary services division, roll out the first cohort of the in – service applied veterinary epidemiology training program for Sierra (12 trainees – 11 graduates)
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr. Andrew L. Sorie Lauderdale express their deliverables for 2023 in which he said are: soil correction, correct soil acidity in 15,000 ha from pH 4.5 to PH 6.5 to increase nutrients uptake if plant from 20% to 100%, nurseries set up for planting materials of 5,000 hetac of cocoa and 5,000 hectac of palm, livestock development, five (5) ranches for cattle and small ruminates and 2 livestock station established and functional, response to disease outbreak in animals across the country, and supervise livestock activities in 16 districts.
He also expressed dismay in highlighting the challenges that the ministry is faced with in which he said are: late or non-disbursement of funds; farming remains seasonal, therefore time bound, limited number of personel, particularly frontline workers to support farmers with advisor services, inadequate Logistics ( vehicles and motor bikes) at all levels.
The presentation was climaxed by the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr. Andrew L. Sorie with the amount of revenue the ministry needs to execute the Feed Salone Programme in which he said the total is 97,860,200.