NJALA UNIVERSITY SIERRA LEONE The National Agric. Policy & Implementation of ECOWAS CAADP In Sierra Leone - AN OVERVIEW. Momodu Kanu

Sierra Leone Coordinates – 8 0 N and 14 0 W Size – 27,925 sq. miles = 73,326 sq. km. N- S = 228 miles Neighbors/borders – Guinea, Liberia & Atlantic Ocean. Geography Population - ~6,000, Ethno-linguistic groups Official/Instructional language – English Lingua franca – English Creole (Krio) People Multi-party democracy 4 regions – includes 3 provinces 13 districts 149 chiefdoms 19 local councils Political Admin.

Njala University  Established in 2005 as one of two public Universities

The Universities Act  Established two public Universities University of Sierra Leone Fourah Bay CollegeIPAMCOMHAS Njala University Njala University College Bo Teachers’ College Paramedical School, Bo

NjalaUniversity Programmes Njala School of Agriculture School of Environmental Sciences School of Forestry and Horticultural Sciences School of Technology Bo School of Community Health Sciences School of Education School of Social Sciences Freetown Graduate and Post Graduate Studies Liaison Office

The Sierra Leone Agric Policy  In 2008 – The Agenda for Change was launched by the Government. The main focus included:  Energy  Agriculture and  Transport

The Sierra Leone Agric Policy “Fellow Sierra Leoneans, my own principal objective in the second leg of our journey together is also centered on a basic right; the right to food……. to ensure that within the next five years, no Sierra Leonean should go to bed hungry”. President Ernest Koroma – Sierra Leone

The Sierra Leone Agric Policy The Challenges faced by the Agric. Sector included: – Inadequate budgetary support – Inadequate rural financial services – Heavy reliance on rain-fed agriculture – Labour drudgery – Weak rural infrastructure – Weak extension system – Absence of a sector database for policy, planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting – Poor coordination among sector stakeholders – Long-term concentration on subsistence farming – Low and limited research activities – Very weak sector institutions, especially the MAFFS

The Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security - MISSION To improve agricultural production and productivity in order to achieve food security, by providing the enabling environment for farmers and promoting appropriate research, extension, input delivery and marketing systems, thereby improving rural incomes, reducing poverty and maintaining the natural environment.

THE CAADP The CAADP is the AU/NEPAD’s initiative to accelerate economic growth through agriculturally- led development that will eliminate hunger, reduce poverty, food and nutrition insecurity, promotes exports and substitute imports. It provides a shared framework for strategic planning and implementation, and for partnership and development assistance in the sector.

Implementation of the CAADP Pillars Pillar 1Pillar 1 - Extending the area under sustainable land management Pillar 2Pillar 2 - Improving rural infrastructure and trade- related capacities for market access Pillar 3Pillar 3 - Increasing food supply and reducing hunger Pillar 4Pillar 4 - Agricultural research, technology dissemination and adoption

The Sierra Leone Agric Policy Objectives of the NSADP Fostering increased agricultural productivity (intensification) Promoting commercial agriculture through Private Sector (extensification) Improving Research & Extension Service Delivery Promoting effective and efficient Resource (financial, physical and human) Management Mainstreaming cross-cutting themes: gender and youth promotion, farmer health care issues (including HIV/AIDS, IVS sicknesses and hazards, malaria, etc) and natural sustainability

The Sierra Leone’s NSADP/CAADP Alignment The CAADP strengthens the NSADP which is the country’s strategic and business plan for investment in the agriculture sector in Sierra Leone by the public and private sectors and development partners.

The Sierra Leone’s NSADP/CAADP Alignment With the CAADP, the country will fulfil the Maputo pledge of allocating at least 10% of the national budget to the sector and then seek to achieve an annual growth rate of 6% in agriculture.

The Sierra Leone’s NSADP/CAADP Alignment The alignment does not only facilitate the identification of strategic options and sources for poverty reduction and growth drive but will also create the forum for knowledge support systems that will enhance peer review, dialogue, experience and information sharing, and evidence-based planning and joint implementation of agriculture sector polices and strategies within the framework of the ECOWAS Common Agriculture Policy (ECOWAP).

The Sierra Leone’s NSADP/CAADP Alignment NSADP/CAADP Compact will significantly input into the formulation of an ECOWAS sub-regional and an African continental compact.

The Sierra Leone’s NSADP/CAADP Alignment Within the Mano River Union (MRU) the NSADP/CAADP Compact establishes a clear set of priorities from the Sierra Leone perspective including agricultural trade, regional integration for forestry and fisheries, promotion of private sector in key commodities and education of experts.

The Sierra Leone’s NSADP/CAADP Alignment The NSADP defines a framework for moving agriculture, forestry and fisheries forward to both address Sierra Leone’s growing needs due to population growth and to create additional income to the national economy, while promoting increased linkages with other sectors of the economy (production of raw materials to spur industrialization, development of upstream and downstream services to agriculture)

The Sierra Leone’s NSADP/CAADP Alignment A primary goal of the NSADP is to contribute to the creation of employment and to reduce foreign exchange spending on import items that can be produced competitively locally while increasing traditional and new exports to achieve an overall positive agriculture sector trade balance.

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