SIERRA LEONE maq 4ª.indd - agrilife - Europa

harvesting period (Sesay et al., 2004). According
to the survey results, the average wage for hired
labour per district ranges from 5000 to 8000
Leones/day, however the wage also depends on
the activity undertaken.
Livestock
Information on livestock was collected in the
survey. The average monetary value (based on
market price) of household’s livestock is presented
in the third part of the Table 24 along with the
average numbers of the most common animals.
Note that not all households own livestock, and
that the averages are calculated only for those
households that own it.
Animals other than sheep, goats, chicken
and other poultry are rare. More specifically,
no household declared to own work oxen or
cattle. The highest and lowest concentrations of
livestock are found in the Northern region, with a
value of under 200 000 Leones in Bombali and a
value close to 300 000 Leones in Tonkolili. In all
districts of the Eastern region, the values are fairly
similar, not exceeding more than 200 000 Leones
in 2009.
Agricultural stocks
Information on agricultural stocks is
represented through the average monetary value
of a household’s agricultural stocks, along with
the average volume of the most common stocks
of crops (upland rice, IVS rice and boli rice) at
household level (see Table 24). The monetary
value of the agricultural food stocks was based
on regional market prices. Not all households
produce or stock all crops listed.
Stocks of crops other than rice are not
widespread. The most common and the most
abundant crop stock is Upland rice, followed by
IVS rice. Boli rice is only produced and therefore
only stocked in the Bombali district. Other crops
are not typically stocked (except for cocoa and
coffee). The monetary value of agricultural stocks
is at least double in the East than in the North,
with households in Kailahun leading the Eastern
region with a value that is more than double
the value of agricultural stocks in the following
district: Kono: 640 184 Leones, Kenema: 951 121
Leones, Kailahun: 2 248 502 Leones; North:
Bombali 275 830 Leones, Tonkolili: 380 891
Leones. The higher values of agricultural stocks
in the East result from including cocoa. Given
the nature of cash crop production (which is
almost immediately delivered to the cooperatives
that store and sell to the market) stocks of
coffee and cocoa were not accounted as part of
household wealth. Moreover, for the storage of
these particular export crops, a higher quality in
terms of facilities would be necessary in order
to prevent damage from humidity exposure.
The latter implies that with the absence of such
storage infrastructure, it is highly infrequent
for farm households to keep coffee or cocoa as
agricultural stocks.
6.1.5 Infrastructure and communication
Agricultural production and marketing
require market access. Data was consequently
collected on the issue of accessibility; measured
by distances, frequency and perceived difficulty
of access (Table 25).
The different situations (in terms of
distance between plots, distance from village
to feeder roads, distance to usual markets and
project offices (in the case of aid programme
beneficiaries)) in the Eastern and the Northern
regions lead, nonetheless, to a similar
assessment of market infrastructure since half
of all households find it difficult to access local
markets. In the Eastern region, 81% of farmland
is fragmented into multiple plots, whereas in
the Northern region, only 62% of farms have
their farmland fragmented. In both regions, the
average distance between the plots of fragmented
farms is just under a mile (approx. 1.6 km). A
higher proportion of the households interviewed
live in villages with a road in the Northern region
than in the Eastern region (82% and 61%), but a
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