UNDP, Agriculture Ministry enhances mountain agriculture

Vegetable consumption in the capital of the country – Freetown mainly depends on production made in the Freetown Urban and Peri-Urban Communities supplying a population of over 2.5 million people. As the dry season approaches, irrigational problems faced by the main producers stationed in the mountain regions of the city becomes a problem that dwindles the supply and hence scarcity, and price hikes sets in.

In lieu of this, the United Nations’ Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security have made a gallant move to ensure constant supply by providing irrigational materials to five different Farmers Associations in the Western Area Mountain District. According to the District Agricultural Officer in the Western Area Haja Adama Fatu Kamara the supplies were made to ensure that the vegetable crisis that rocks the city in the dry season is forestalled and also that farmers are empowered to engage in the healthy production of vegetable crops that will boost their economic and financial status.

The five communities that have benefited from the UNDP and Government assistance Haja Adama Kamara said are Regent, Gloucester, Magaba, Mathaime and Leicester vegetable communities in the Mountain District of the Western Area.

She said, the government and its development partners have reckoned that vegetable production in the Western Area of the country is an integral part of the Food Security Drive as “99% of the people” depend on various types of vegetables as food in not just the Western Area but all over the country as a major part of their diets.

Many factors lead to a dwindling of production and supply in the Western Area during the dry season but a major one is the lack of proper irrigational facilities especially in the Mountain communities that account for a large percentage of supply the Agric Officer told Sierra Express.

When asked as to what has been put in place to combat the other related problems accounting for the poor supply of vegetable produce in the Western Area, Haja Kamara revealed “we have been able to set up farmer’s field schools with the help of the Sierra Leone Government and Donor Partners that ensures that extension services are provided for farmers that serves to educate them as to what and must not be done to ensure production and productivity”.  These farmer’s field schools she said, have aided and improved the skills and output of our farmers in a lot of ways and the process is ongoing; owing supportive of the fact of government and donor commitment to the attainment of food security in the country.

“The Western Area of the Country hosts the highest population in the country” she said “and if for any reason we are able to set the pace in the fostering and attainment of food security, then the rest of the country will take after the example,” adding that we have gone this far as to making strong impact and commitment on the farmers but in the weeks and months to come, we will be able to attain more of our goals due to the show of commitment exhibited presently by the government, donor community, farmers and Ministry Officials working with the farmers in the field.

Asked on the level of government commitment, Madam Kamara told Sierra Express “we have a Minister in the person of Dr. Sam Sesay who is an expert in Agriculture, committed to ensuring that the dream of food security becomes a reality in the country” adding that “we are also blessed that the President of the Republic Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma now has the issue of food security as a number one priority”.

The Government of Sierra Leone has now embarked on the attainment of Food Security in the country after a reasonable achievement in the energy sector which served as priority when it first came to power in 2007.

Many inroads have been made in recent times as mechanized farming referred to by the government as ‘tractorization’ by the government has made to take the lead in farming programmes in the country.   

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