Improving incomes of smallholder farmers
FAO provides cash transfers to Agribusiness Centres for livestock investment.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS) is providing funds to twelve Agribusiness Centres (ABCs) for the implementation of livestock activities.
The twelve ABCs, two each, in Koinadugu, Kono, Kailahun, Bo, Moyamba and Kenema Districts will each receive a minimum sum of USD13 663 (thirteen thousand six hundred and sixty three United States Dollars) which is equivalent to SLL81 978 000 (eighty one million nine hundred and seventy eight thousand Leones).
The support is under the Post Ebola Recovery, Agribusiness, Food Security, and Women’s Empowerment Disaster Risk Reduction Project funded by the Swedish International Cooperation Agency (SIDA), which aims among other things to improve the livelihoods of the Ebola affected communities in Sierra Leone.
Collaboration and commitment of farmer groups
Addressing representatives of the beneficiary ABCs, the Assistant FAO Representative-Programmee, Joseph Brima stated that the Organization strives to promote agriculture and improve on the farming activities to become commercialised.
“We want you to double your efforts and multiply the funds we are giving to you so that you will in turn motivate other farmers to work hard,” he said.
Brima described farming as an industrious occupation and contrary to the perception of many who refer to it as the job of the poor and lazy. He encouraged them to be accountable and transparent to their members.
Large scale livestock rearing is not common to many ABCs in the country including the Tikonko Agribusiness Centre in Bo District. Its Chairman, Mohamed Zoker described the initiative to be very laudable and hopeful of it being another income generating source for them.
Promoting sustainable income and healthy eating habit
The project intends to improve the incomes of the smallholder farmers by engaging them in sustainable business; strengthen the ABCs as a service centre to the farmers for key livestock related services; promote healthy eating habits among the households by increasing the production and consumption of animal protein and create jobs for the youths as Community Animal Health Workers as way of life.
FAO in partnership with MAFFS will provide blanket vaccination to all livestock in the communities where the selected ABCs are located to prevent them against common diseases; identify and train Community Animal Health Workers in the selected communities in the districts; and establish a furnished vaccination shop at each ABC to be used on cost recovery basis.
The project will also repair the agricultural machines that were wrecked in the selected ABCs due to under use as a result of the impact of the EVD outbreak and provide refresher training for the machine operators.