SIERRA LEONE maq 4ª.indd - agrilife - Europa

international market situation with high demand
for the commodity, priority was placed on support
to cocoa production. The project was implemented
by the German NGO Welthungerhilfe
(Welthungerhilfe, 2007).The project worked with
3500 farmers or 0.9% of the farm households of
Sierra Leone (and a budget of 1.8 million Euros).
The following objectives and activities were
addressed:
• Increasing the production of cocoa and
coffee by:
- training staff and farmers in Farmer Field
Schools
- supporting the rehabilitation of
plantations together with the MAFFS
- promoting
agro-forestry
ecologically sustainable
• Improving cocoa and coffee quality by:
- training staff and farmers
- installing facilities for fermentation,
drying and storage
- establishing a quality control system
- testing of quality Robusta coffee
- developing a cocoa growing manual
• Improving the marketing of cocoa and coffee
by
- obtaining organic and fair trade
-
certification
undertaking a market study
- providing transport and improving
-
feeder roads
assisting farmers in local marketing and
associations in export, and
- promoting Sierra Leone products
(internationally)
• Strengthening farmer associations by:
- promoting self-help initiatives (e.g.
-
formation of new associations/cooperatives
or farmer groups, exchange visits)
Integration of institutions at the village,
ward and district levels. Support to fair
trade requirements
• Creating an enabling environment for private
sector investment by:
- assisting associations/cooperatives to
access credit
- motivating exporters to invest in
profitable, high quality exports
4.2 Initial Achievements of STABEX
programmes
In this section we briefly summarize the
attainments of the STABEX programme, as
reported in project monitoring documents. In
the following sub-sections project outcomes
are described and evaluated according to data
gathered directly from beneficiaries via face-toface
interviews (Action Aid, 2009).
4.2.1 Rice
According to the report (Action Aid, 2009),
all project activities have been completed and
the following achievements were highlighted as
key events:
• Three quarters of targeted farmers had
access to improved rice seed and almost all
of them increased their farm land area by
50%. Almost all targeted farmers increased
their rice production despite no access to
fertilizers.
• In the two districts, five large community
storage facilities have been constructed
or rehabilitated to improve harvest
preservation. Rice haulers, 18 drying floors,
tarpaulins and threshers with winnowers
have been provided to improve the quality
of post-harvest rice produce. Three quarters
of targeted farmers have thus realised an
increase in the quality and grade of their
rice.
• One hundred km of feeder roads and 6
major culverts have been rehabilitated and
constructed to improve access to major
Rural poverty reduction and food security: The case of smallholders in Sierra Leone
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