SIERRA LEONE maq 4ª.indd - agrilife - Europa

Table 24. Resources of smallholders in the Eastern and Northern regions of Sierra Leone
Resourses Northern region Eastern region
Bombali Tonkolili Kono Kenema Kailahun
1. Land (acres cultivated) 6.2 7.4 15.0 18.7 12.4
(acres/household unit) 0.9 1.0 2.4 2.1 1.2
2. Labour (nos.) 8.7 9.4 7.8 11.1 13.1
(adult equivalent) 6.7 7.3 6.2 8.7 10.4
men 1.9 2.0 2.0 2.8 3.5
women 1.9 2.1 1.9 2.7 3.0
children 4.8 5.3 3.9 5.7 6.7
Extended family (nos.) 11.9 13.1 9.7 20.7 19.0
(adult equivalent) 9.7 10.6 8.0 16.8 15.9
3. Livestock (Leones) 191028 284373 217222 238689 208530
(% households owning livestock) 62% 67% 75% 82% 61%
sheep (nos.) 3 2 1 2 4
13% 18% 17% 27% 7%
goats (nos.) 2 3 2 2 3
13% 21% 31% 28% 25%
chickens (nos.) 7 9 7 5 7
59% 61% 65% 78% 51%
other poultry (nos.) 3 5 10 0 0
4% 9% 26% 0% 0%
4. Agricultural stocks (Leones) 380891 275830 640184 951121 2248502
(% households having stock) 97% 95% 88% 94% 96%
Upland rice (bushels) 5 4 13 13 5
60% 89% 82% 93% 79%
IVS rice (bushels) 4 3 9 10 4
65% 47% 26% 63% 75%
Boli rice (bushels) 10 40 0 0 0
28% 0% 0% 0% 0%
the smallholders. Next, each key resource is
described in detail (See Table 24 for a summary
overview at district level)
Land
Land is the main production factor for the
smallholders. Regarding the size of cultivated
area, as pointed in the previous sub-section,
farms are roughly twice as big in the districts of
the Eastern than those in the Northern region (see
Table 24).
The amount of land used for food and tree
crop cultivation on average per district is shown
in Figure 28. These results show that all household
dedicate on average a similar amount of land to
food crop production to secure self consumption.
On the remaining disposable acreage tree crops
are cultivated with Eastern districts devoting a
higher proportion to this activity.
The smallholders were asked about the
number of years during which they keep land
under bush or forest fallow (idle). (Figure 29).
The length of the fallow period is crucial for the
productivity of the systems, since it influences
the weed vegetation, pests and diseases,
consequently the yields of cultivated crops,
evidences show that reduced fallow duration
were associated with yield reduction (Beker
& Johnson 2001, De Row, A 1995, Nyoka
1982). Surveyed households have reported
fallow periods which are below the expected
regeneration periods established for bush and
forest areas (see section 3.2). Only in Kono the
average number of years of land under forest
fallow is close to the said regeneration period of
20 years. In the long run, the land rotation system
can be expected to have a negative impact in
terms of soil fertility management practices and
the necessary efforts to reduce land degradation
(Bernard Tinker et al., 1999).
Rural poverty reduction and food security: The case of smallholders in Sierra Leone
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