02.08.2013 Views

SIERRA LEONE maq 4ª.indd - agrilife - Europa

SIERRA LEONE maq 4ª.indd - agrilife - Europa

SIERRA LEONE maq 4ª.indd - agrilife - Europa

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

• Repatriation of after tax profits or dividends<br />

is subject to the payment of withholding tax<br />

of 10%;<br />

• Repatriation of original loan or interest<br />

payment thereon, known-how fees and other<br />

services at the exchange rate prevailing at<br />

the time of repatriation;<br />

• Capital allowance deduction is allowed for<br />

depreciation of a taxpayer’s depreciable assets.<br />

The most significant effect of the tariff regime<br />

is an excise tax on imported fuel of 50 %, the<br />

landed cost of petrol and 41 % for diesel. This<br />

affects tradable costs of all inputs, as well as<br />

marketing and processing costs. Materials directly<br />

related to the production in all the sub-sectors<br />

(crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry), however,<br />

face reduced import duties. Specific machinery<br />

(tractors, and appliances, harvesters, veterinary<br />

drugs and implements) can be imported at a lower<br />

duty rate of 5 %, compared to 50 – 100 % for<br />

luxury cars. Concerning protectionist measures,<br />

as stated above, rice is subject to 15 % import<br />

duty. Nonetheless, (at the moment of writing)<br />

with the ongoing negotiations for a common<br />

external tariff harmonisation for the ECOWAS26 and UEMOA27 regions, the government would<br />

no longer be able to influence tariffs on both<br />

agricultural inputs and outputs.<br />

3.4.3 Rice: Government support and<br />

intervention<br />

The government through the Ministry of<br />

Trade, the Rice Department, the Rice Corporation,<br />

and the Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Board<br />

(SLPMB) has been deeply involved in rice trading.<br />

According to the report issued by IFPRI (2009)<br />

the local rice operation of the SLPMB was rather<br />

unsatisfactory as less and less local rice was sold<br />

26 The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)<br />

is a regional group of fifteen West African countries<br />

27 The West African Economic and Monetary Union (also<br />

known as UEMOA from its name in French, Union<br />

économique et monétaire ouest-africaine)<br />

to it because of the unattractive floor prices set by<br />

the government for local rice. Starting in 1987,<br />

the monopoly of SLPMB in the rice trade declined<br />

considerably when its foreign reserves from cocoa<br />

and coffee trade plummeted due to low world<br />

prices; it thus ceased operation. Consequently,<br />

by the late 1980s, the private sector had assumed<br />

a dominant role in the marketing of both local<br />

and imported rice in Sierra Leone. However, the<br />

estimated proportion of local rice that has been<br />

marketed since the 1980s has averaged about 20<br />

percent of annual production, implying that most<br />

of the rice produced locally is consumed by farm<br />

households (IFPRI, 2009).<br />

Since the war, the marketing of rice in Sierra<br />

Leone has not fundamentally changed, except that<br />

the volumes of local rice production are much<br />

lower and of reduced quality (given the absence of<br />

sufficient milling facilities28 ) now than before the<br />

war. In fact, although the rate of self-sufficiency<br />

in rice increased in Sierra Leone between 2002<br />

and 2007, the country still imports substantial<br />

proportion of rice, which has increased from 120<br />

000 tons per annum during the pre-war period<br />

to 230 000 tons post war, a quantity short of the<br />

national requirement of 530 000 tons of milled<br />

rice per annum (MAFFS, 2009 & FAOSTAT).<br />

The market structure for rice and other<br />

major agricultural commodities sold by farmers<br />

in Sierra Leone (i.e. maize, cassava, groundnuts,<br />

and vegetables) generally follows a producerwholesaler-retailer-consumer<br />

pattern.<br />

3.5 Sector Constraints and Challenges<br />

Although Sierra Leone is naturally endowed<br />

with adequate land, water and climatic<br />

conditions (to enable the agricultural sector to<br />

contribute to high economic growth and food<br />

security) the national context is one of the most<br />

28 In 2004, a total of 53 small scale rice mills existed in Sierra<br />

Leone. 60% of these mills were located in the Northern region<br />

(National Rice Development Strategy. Sierra Leone, 2009)<br />

Rural poverty reduction and food security: The case of smallholders in Sierra Leone<br />

57

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!