SIERRA LEONE maq 4ª.indd - agrilife - Europa

7 Conclusions
The aim of this study is to analyse the
livelihood and prospects of smallholders in Sierra
Leone, particularly those who benefitted between
2007 and 2009 from aid financed by the STABEX
instrument of the 8th European Development
Fund. In Sierra Leone, the majority of farm
households (who amounted to approximately
400,000 in 2006 (Jalloh, 2006)) are managing
plots which do not exceed 2 cropped hectares.
A sample of 604 farm households was
surveyed via face to face interviews. They
represent the most vulnerable segment of the
country’s farming sector which is also the most
relevant from the rural poverty-reduction point
of view. From the experiences of the STABEXfunded
initiatives and the evaluation of survey
results, several lessons may be drawn both in
terms of aid policy enactment processes and
methodological approaches. Evidence from the
present Sierra Leone case study illustrates that
farm household decisions and resources should
be analyzed taking into account the village or
chiefdom context. This has implications not only
in the survey design, but also in the calculation
of smallholders’ income and ultimately in the
adequate understanding and assessment of the
impact of technical assistance programmes.
In this concluding section, key findings
and insights will be summarised concerning the
following issues: (7.1) the sample and the context
in which smallholders in Sierra Leone operate
both from an institutional and agronomic point
of view, (7.2) the quantitative results in terms of
income calculation approaches, poverty level
and productivity of surveyed smallholders, (7.3)
main achievements of STABEX-funded projects
in improving livelihood and food security, (7.4)
insights for future technical assistance programmes
in Sierra Leone (also applicable to regions
under tropical agricultural systems) and (7.5)
methodological lessons for analysing rural farm
household performance in developing countries.
7.1 Surveyed Smallholders, Agrarian
System and Institutional
Background
Primary data was collected through surveys
and enriched with available secondary data from
statistics and technical literature review. The
survey addressed 604 smallholders from selected
districts located in the Northern and Eastern
regions of Sierra Leone where the STABEX-funded
projects were implemented by Action Aid and
Deutsche Welthungerhilfe, respectively. The
sample represents the main agricultural systems
in the country that received support from the
STABEX, i.e. food crop cultivation (largely rice
growers) concentrated in the Northern region,
and cash tree cropping (i.e. coffee and cocoa) in
the Eastern region. Table 34 provides a summary
of the main differences between farm households
in the two regions in terms of average plot and
household size, crop mix, market orientation,
yields and reliance on different income sources.
Despite the dissimilarities highlighted in Table
34 between the two regions, smallholders in Sierra
Leone are generally embedded in a system of slash
and burn (or shifting cultivation) for most of their
food cropping; which in the light of decreasing idle/
fallow periods and increasing population becomes
progressively unsustainable. The latter is due to the
markedly declining of idle periods which are needed
for forest regeneration, and renewing fertility – being
at levels between 4 and 7 years from the original
25-30 year. Consequently, the soil fertility is only
partially restored, inducing decrease in crops yields.
On the whole, the production technology
and agrarian system of smallholders in Sierra
Rural poverty reduction and food security: The case of smallholders in Sierra Leone
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