By: Josephine Nyeweah in Kenema district
Agriculture Value Chain Development Project (AVDP), with support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development IFAD has launched the Cocoa and Oil Palm Multi-Stakeholder/Commodity Value Chain Platform at Albertson Hall in Kenema.
Addressing the conference, AVDP Project Manager Monica Kwame Greene stated that the launch is a significant milestone for the cocoa and oil palm sectors by linking smallholder farmers with actors in the sector.
The purpose of the launch is to create a platform where the various actors can interact. The launch has fulfilled one of the project objectives: to increase income for rural farming households in Sierra Leone.
She asked the actors to take ownership of the platform, as that is the only way it will become sustainable.
In conclusion, she thanked everyone for their shared commitment to the betterment of the Agriculture sector and the smallholder farmers in Sierra Leone.
Tamba Dalton Kassoh, Project Technical Director at AVDP, gave a project overview, saying the project is a six-year project to benefit 43,000 households, equivalent to 258,000 direct beneficiaries, with 40% women and 40% youth participation.
He said the goal of the project is to improve the livelihoods, food security, and climate change resilience of rural farming households in Sierra Leone.
The project’s objective is to increase incomes for smallholder farmers by promoting agriculture as a business. The main Value Chains look into the production of Rice, Oil Palm, cocoa, and Vegetables (Onion, hot pepper, black pepper, and Irish Potatoes).
Bobson Margai, Director of Export Sierra Leone Investment and Export Promotion Agency SLIEPA, and Sinnah Massaquoi, Agribusiness Officer AVDP, were part of the facilitation team.
Baindu Kallon from Moyamba thanked the donors and organizers of the season, adding that it has empowered them with an eye-opener to go into massive Agribusiness in the nation.
