SIERRA LEONE maq 4ª.indd - agrilife - Europa

7 Conclusions
162
In the Eastern districts, Deutsche Welthungerhilfe
engaged in similar tasks directed to cocoa and
coffee producers but with a higher emphasis on
the development of marketing structures, output
quality controls, rehabilitation of plantations
and promoting access to credit to cooperatives.
Contrary to many post war agricultural measures
that have been conceived in a top-down
framework, with limited/no involvement of
farmers and their representatives, most of these
activities were conceived and conducted using
a participatory approach. Under this approach,
awareness, ownership and trust on aid policies
are more likely to emerge, thus positively affecting
the achievement of overall project objectives.
The qualitative data available in the survey
allows for assessing the relevance, effectiveness,
impact and sustainability of the aid programmes
to which smallholders had access. In addition,
the survey provided information on the perceived
General Improvement in the Community Area.
In terms of relevance (or perceived adequacy) of
the support received to the farmer-householder’s
needs, smallholders considered it was very low
in general (and only Action Aid received slightly
higher positive feedback). The evaluation of
effectiveness entailed measuring how far the
specific objectives of the projects implemented
have been met from the point of view of farm
household beneficiaries. However, when
evaluating the level of improvement in production
and income resulting from their interaction with
the implementing agencies, most respondents
reported some improvement, and especially a
great improvement was perceived by 20% of the
smallholders in the Northern region. Regarding
the measures with the highest impact on food
security and livelihood at the household level
there were discrepancies between smallholders
from the Northern and Eastern regions. In the
Eastern region, the improvement of market access
was deemed the most important to achieve food
security. In the Northern region higher impact to
improving food security is associated to staple
food prices, cultivated area and food production.
Unlike the Eastern districts, access to markets
is in the Northern districts deemed to have less
of an impact; which makes sense given that in
the Northern region there is limited presence of
cash crops. Sustainability can only be evaluated
several years after implementation of the
projects. Consequently, smallholders were asked
about expected future sustainability of project
components. Around 80% of respondents in the
Eastern region and 50% of respondents in the
Northern region perceived that the initiatives that
were provided to them will serve to their long
term benefit. Concerning the answers to General
Improvement in the Community Area with respect
to different development areas, the respondents
perceived some enhancement in food security
and the opportunities to sell farm produce (which
were specifically targeted by STABEX). However,
areas such as education, health care, provision
of agricultural services and opportunities to buy
fertilizers appear to have worsened from the point
of view of targeted smallholders.
Overall, one issue worthwhile exploring is
related to aid programmes undertaken at village
level since smallholders appear to work in a
collaborative manner and many resources are
shared. In this manner it would be necessary to
identify the type of common assets and strategies
which could benefit the majority of smallholders
within their communities; for example: feeder
roads, market information, cooperatives (e.g.
Agro-Business Centres) to gain access to key
inputs, including credit. Accordingly, aid should
come in a format which not only supports yield
increase but also guarantees food security in a
more comprehensive manner and connects farm
households to market opportunities. For this
it is necessary to take into account the socioeconomic
and cultural context of farm households
while considering potential constraints specific
to crop orientation. In the Eastern districts both
cash tree crops and food crops play an important
role in achieving food security objectives; while
in the North, where the cultivation of cocoa and
coffee is not advisable due to agro-ecological
constraints (lower rainfall gradient inducing lower
and highly variable yields), farm households