FAO Sierra Leone Newsletter
January - June 2018, issue #1
Issues
FAO constructs fishponds and poultry houses in Kono district - Page 2
FAO provides solar refrigerators for preserving livestock vaccines - Page 3
Handling animal health issues with inadequate equipment and personnel - Page 4-6
FAO capacitates advocates for women’s equality in customary land rights - Page 6-7
Empowering farmers to increase production
Page 8-9
Minimizing boundary disputes and promoting transparency in land ownership - Page 10-11
FAO supports Sierra Leone to combat the spread of Fall Army Warm - Page 11
Aligning Sierra Leone’s Forestry Act with recent
statutory instruments - Page 12 ©FAO/Adamu Sanidanya
New arrivals - Page 12 FAO constructs fishponds and poultry houses in Kono district
©FAO/Keifa Jaward One of the fishponds under construction in Kono district The Food and Agriculture Or- Sierra Leone and focuses on Both supports are expected to ganization of the United Na- two broad, interlinked inter- benefit 1,200 youths, includ- tions (FAO) in partnership vention areas that aim to en- ing women. Since the birds with the Ministry of Agricul- hance sustainable, inclusive were stocked, each poultry ture and Forestry and the governance of natural re- house is producing on an av- Ministry of Fisheries and Ma- sources as well as diversifica- erage 12 dozens of eggs on a rine Resources have con- tion of sustainable livelihood daily basis. structed fishponds and poul- opportunities in one of the The programme has also try houses across the 14 most mineral-rich, but least trained 16 poultry farmers on chiefdoms in Kono district. developed areas in the coun- the general management of The 24 earthen fishponds and try. poultry farming and 48 eight poultry houses were Each of the earthen fishponds youths in basic fishpond man- constructed and stocked by was stocked with 800 finger- agement. The trainees are the SDG Fund project lings of Tilapia and each of expected to replicate the “Enabling Sustainable Liveli- the poultry house was training to their group mem- hoods through Improved Nat- stocked with 500 birds at 23 bers (beneficiary fish and ural Resource Governance weeks old. All sites have poultry farmers) so that they and Economic Diversification been provided with will all have general in the Kono District, Sierra feeds. The activities are in knowledge on the manage- Leone.” line with the project’s ex- ment of fishponds and poul- The programme is imple- pected outcome, to improve try. mented in the framework of a livelihoods through diversi- The project has also provided a multi-purpose feed milling UN multi-agency Area-Based fied and inclusive economic machine and a 40kva genera- Development (ABD) approach opportunities. tor that will be primarily meant for the production of in the Kono district, eastern fish and poultry feed in the district. FAO Sierra Leone Newsletter - 2 FAO provides solar refrigerators for pre- serving livestock vaccines
The FAO component of the Global Agriculture Food Se- curity Programme (GAFSP) donated solar operated re- frigerator to Agribusiness Centres (ABCs) for vaccine storage and preservation.
The symbolic distribution of the solar operated refrigera- ©FAO/Keifa Jaward tor to 25 ABCs the country The ABC representatives receiving the consignment from the Depu- was on date done by the ty Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Samking Briama Deputy Minister of Agricul- ture and Forestry, Samking ported with vet drugs and District Agriculture Officers. Briama at the Campbell vaccines to respond to ur- The Minister encouraged the Town ABC during the gradu- gent livestock diseases. A beneficiaries to appropriate- ation of Farmer Field total of 125 Community Ani- ly utilize the equipment so Schools (FFS) in the West- mal Health Workers that the financiers will be ern Rural District. (CAHWs) have been trained motivated to do more. to run the drug store and The 25 ABCs have benefit- also treat sick animals (for The 25 solar refrigerators ted from the livestock sup- minor cases) in their re- will be installed in all loca- port under the GAFSP pro- spective communities under tions and the ABC members ject, and they will be sup- the direct supervision of the trained on good manage- ment practices. This compo- nent of the project is to ad- dress animal welfare there- by increasing production and nutritional status of the Farmer Based Organization members and further create jobs at community level for the Community Animal ©FAO/Keifa Jaward Health Workers. Deputy Minister advising the beneficiaries on the proper use of the equipment FAO Sierra Leone Newsletter - 3 Handling animal health issues with inadequate equipment and personnel
were so valuable to me,” he lamented.
According to him, within two weeks, he saw three out of his 15 goats alive. He then concluded that the others might have died in bushes. Before we complet- ed interview with him, one of his dependents came and reported to him that one of the remaining three goats was dead.
Koroma is very sad now ©FAO/Keifa Jaward that his goats are dead, One of the infected goats discovered in Moindu wandor and he has no money at the Mohamed Tommy Koroma of them are school going moment to restock. He re- rears livestock in Moindu children. ferred to them as his sav- Wandor in Kenema, East of It was in April 2018 that he ings because he sold them Sierra Leone. He has been started observing that some whenever he was urgently in the trade for over 15 of his livestock were not ac- in need of money, especial- years, but this year is a tive as usual and could not ly for paying school fees miserable time for him be- go for grazing. He started and solving other pressing cause he has already lost 13 fetching grass for them but problems. “I am very wor- out of the 15 livestock he they could not eat as well. ried that even my remain- owned. His livestock are dy- In June, the goats started ing two goats will die be- ing from an unknown dis- dying. “I first saw four laid cause they might have con- ease outbreak in his com- dead near my house. Few tracted the disease. It is munity. days later, I saw another very difficult to find some- Koroma is an auto mechanic two dead. The situation one in our community to and a farmer as well. He has worried me so much be- urgently borrow USD20 seven dependents and five cause I know how my goats from. My goats were my savings,” he mourned.
FAO Sierra Leone Newsletter - 4 Koroma like many livestock owners in the Moindu commu- Government and partners’ re- nity are very much discour- sponse to the outbreak aged about the way they are Upon receiving report about of 124 were accounted losing their livestock. The last the disease outbreak in dead and 129 were at high time similar plague occurred Moindu Wandor in Kenema risk. The residents were not in the locality was few months district, in the East and able to figure out how Gbangbama Kwelu in Mo- many dead animals are before the Ebola disease out- yamba district in the South, abandoned in the bush. break in 2014, but the impact the Food and Agriculture Residents of Gbangbama was not severe as the current Organization of the United Kwelu Chiefdom in Mo- outbreak. The price of a goat Nations (FAO) in partner- yamba District could not ship with the Ministry of account for the number of – buck and doe – in their Agriculture and Forestry dead animals because most community is USD30 and it (MAF) and Njala University of them were abandoned in will be more attractive when visited the affected commu- the bush. they are taken to the cities. nities, from 20 to 23 June The same clinical signs - 2018, to investigate the mouth, eyes, and nasal dis- Farmers in the Moindu com- disease outbreak . charges, diarrhoea, loss of weight were confirmed in munity rear their livestock on The team interviewed com- both communities. There- free range and most of them munity stakeholders, live- fore, the team instructed stock owners, collected as social assets. They do not the communities to impose blood, nasal and mouth vaccinate their livestock regu- quarantine on sick animals swab from 61 goats and and restrict movement of larly. They only hire the ser- sheep - 50 from Moindu healthy animals between vice of a community animal and 11 from Kwelu - for la- communities until the in- boratory investigation. health worker when they no- vestigation report was out. In Moindu alone, there tice some signs of sickness in Communities were advised were more than 253 heads to use protective gear when their livestock. of small ruminants. A total handling sick animals, and they were strictly warned not to eat dead animals. In a press conference on Friday, 29 June, FAO and MAF updated stakeholders and the media on the sta- tus of the outbreak and cautioned the public on the preventive measures and channels of reporting when- ever similar signs are no- ticed among animals any- where in the country. ©FAO/Keifa Jaward
The joint MAF/FAO/Njala University team interacting with the villagers in Moindu FAO Sierra Leone Newsletter - 5 Capacity of the livestock and vet- erinary sector in the country
After the end of the civil war, the country’s livestock and vet- erinary sector deteriorated and remained with few trained and qualified personnel that cannot ©FAO/Keifa Jaward efficiently handle the caseload
in the country. Currently, the A laboratory technician collecting blood sample from a goat in Moindu Wandor country cannot boast of a doz- en veterinary doctors, and ma- FAO capacitates advocates for jority of the available workforce women’s equality in customary are either in their prime to re- tirement or in the research in- land rights stitutions. There are Livestock
Officers assigned to each dis- From a time when land dis- and Forests (VGGT) in Sierra trict, who are expected to con- putes were mostly settled Leone. between men armed with duct surveillance and report to machetes comes the notion To this end, FAO in collabora- tion the Sierra Leone govern- headquarters monthly, but they that women have no place in discussions on land matters ment, with funding from Irish lack the capacity and necessary in Sierra Leone. Still widely Aid held a three-day Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop equipment like vehicle, laptop, believed today, this is par- ticularly evident in custom- on Protecting Women’s Cus- smartphone and internet ser- ary land laws, where in tomary Land Rights in Sierra Leone. vices to carry out their job ef- some parts of the country women are discriminated fectively. The objective of the training against when it comes to the is to strengthen the capacity inheritance and ownership of The country requires robust en- of women to better under- land. As a result, women’s stand and advocate for their hancement in the surveillance land rights are a core com- land and property rights in ponent of the FAO-led im- and laboratory systems to effi- their communities and in- plementation of the Volun- crease their knowledge and ciently handle livestock related tary Guidelines on the Re- awareness on global and na- sponsible Governance of matters. tional policies, principles and Tenure of Land, Fisheries practices for securing land and property rights. FAO Sierra Leone Newsletter - 6 The FAO Representative in Sierra Leone, Nyabenyi Tipo stated that the training was very essential because land is a vital and topical issue, not only in the country but worldwide as it is central to all other aspects of life. Tipo noted that agriculture is one of the largest em- ployers in the country, with ©FAO/Keifa Jaward women contributing over 70 percent to agricultural pro- duction but they have lim- ited or no right to land. The FAO Gender Lead trainer addressing participants in the training session Addressing the imbalance in tion and promote sustaina- tion to gender in Sierra Leo- land ownership between ble agriculture. A key part of ne. They discussed land men and women, FAO Rep- that is investing in women rights with reference to the resentative Dr Nyabeni Tipo and addressing the con- Constitution of Sierra Leone, reminded participants that straints they face in having the National Land Policy and women provide 70 percent access to resources,” she other legal framework. They of labour in the agriculture explained. also examined customary sector. Dr Tipo noted that tenure governance and the three-day training was Ms O’Neil expressed hope women were keen to discuss designed to facilitate better that the training would pro- their personal experiences, understanding of some of vide participants with the while gaining an under- the issues relating to ten- tools and knowledge to ad- standing of how customary ure, taking into account vance land rights for women land rights relate to gender global best practices and in Sierra Leone. in Sierra Leone. They adapting them to the local The training was attended taught the participants on context. by 45 participants, 37 areas of protection of prop- According to the head of among them were women erty rights, dispute resolu- Irish Aid in Sierra Leone, from civil society organiza- tion mechanisms and strate- Mary O’Neil, the training tions, women’s organiza- gies for advocating women’s was in line with their work tions and communities land rights. in the country. “Ireland and across the Northern, South- Certificates of participation Sierra Leone are partners in ern, Eastern Regions and were distributed to partici- the 2013 Sustainable Devel- Western Area. The co- pants, facilitators and sup- opment Agenda, with specif- facilitators of the training, port staff. The women are Dr Isata Mahoi and Dr Rex- ic focus on Sustainable De- expected to return to their ford Ahene, guided partici- velopment Goal 2, which communities as advocates pants towards a better un- aims to end hunger, achieve for the protection of wom- food security, improve nutri- derstanding of rights in rela- en’s customary land rights.
FAO Sierra Leone Newsletter - 7 Empowering farmers to increase production FAO certifies 3 000 farmer field school graduates
uting to Priority one of the FAO’s Country Program- ming Framework, “Increase production and productivity of crops, livestock and fish- eries.”
Addressing the farmer graduates, the FAO Repre- sentative in Sierra Leone, Nyabenyi Tipo, expressed gratitude to them to have been patient to participate in the entire training pro-
©FAO/Keifa Jaward cess. “You should be proud The FAO Representative together with the Director Extension handing over certificate of yourselves for the to one of the Farmer Field School graduates knowledge that you have
The Food and Agriculture Or- overwhelmingly attended by gained. Nobody can take ganization of the United Na- farmers, community stake- them from you, but it is tions (FAO) in partnership holders and local authorities. equally your responsibility with the Global Agriculture to share with others,” she The component of the SCP- Food Security Programme noted. GAFSP project that is imple- (GAFSP) and the Ministry of mented by FAO was designed Tipo reminded the gradu- Agriculture and Forestry have as complementary support to ates about the intention of organized graduation cere- government through FAO the government to diversify monies for 3,120 farmers technical supervision to, the economy through agri- from 104 Farmer Field among other things, cultural investment and the Schools in Sierra Leone. strengthen the 52 identified involvement of the private The graduation ceremonies Agricultural Business Centers sector. “It is an opportunity were held simultaneously in (ABCs) ready for transfor- for you to urgently form 13 agricultural districts in the mation by establishing at groups and stand ready to country from 14 to 25 May least 104 farmer field schools partner with the private 2018. The ceremonies were (FFS). The project is contrib- sector,” she encouraged.
FAO Sierra Leone Newsletter - 8 The Director of Extension ture sector have realized in their farming methods and Services in the Ministry of that such farming system better yields from the exper- Agriculture and Forestry, cannot provide enough food imental plots than their tra- Dennis Paul, stated that for the country’s population ditional plots. farmer field school is an in- and is not even profitable for FAO will continue to work formal school that provides the farmers. with MAFFS and GAFSP to the platform for traditional He expressed hope that if provide farming inputs for farmers and agriculture offic- the farmers implemented the the new graduates to em- ers to meet and share improved planting methods, bark on another cropping knowledge on basic agro- they will realize increased with the supervision from nomic practices, and adopt yield in their subsequent the farmer field school facili- the best practices at the cropping. tators. They will also facili- end. tate the formation of the The farmers were taught Paul disclosed that the Minis- groups into farmer based or- various agronomic practices, try of Agriculture is under- ganizations, register them including site preparation, staff to provide the required with the necessary govern- nursing, transplanting, and number of extension officers ment institutions, attach fertilizer application. All of to provide adequate support them to the nearest Agri- the testimonies made by the to farmers in all parts of the business centres and link farmer field school graduates country. Therefore, he noted them with agro dealers in in the graduation sessions that, there will come a time their communities. acknowledged improvement when the Ministry will utilize the services of outstanding ©FAO/Keifa Jaward farmer field school graduates to serve as lead farmer facil- itators in their communities.
The Agribusiness Officer of the Global Agriculture Food Security Programme, Ismael Kamara noted that the usual trend of farming in the coun- try is largely done at subsist- ence level. For that, he said that partners in the agricul- Farmer field school graduands assembled at the graduation session
FAO Sierra Leone Newsletter - 9 Minimizing boundary disputes and promoting transparency in land ownership
Improper identification of boundaries is a major cause of land disputes and litiga- tions in Sierra Leone. Land remains a valuable asset to individuals and communities in the country, especially for agricultural purpose.
To minimize these prob- lems, the Food and Agricul- ture Organization of the ©FAO/Momodu Deen Swarray The Land Tenure and Natural Resources Management Officer, Samuel Mabikke, presenting a United Nations (FAO) to- map to the people of Masima village gether with the Ministry of other Civil Society Organiza- Land, Housing and Environ- of 507.8 Acres (205.5 hec- tion partners with financial ment, Namati and chiefdom tares). Similar exercises support from Irish Aid. The authorities embarked on the are being done in the component is to “Pilot cus- demarcation and recording Selenga Chiefdom in Bo tomary land rights ascer- of nine villages in the Bom- district and Kandu Lep- tainment, demarcation and bali, Bo and Kenema dis- piama in Kenema district. recording pilot using SOLA / tricts, using an innovative Open Tenure in three ethni- After every mapping exer- geospatial tool (SOLA / cally different customary cise, a community valida- Open Tenure) developed by tenure communities.” tion workshop is organized FAO. to solicit the inputs, con- The first mapping exercise This exercise forms Compo- cerns and approval of was conducted in Masima nent 3 of the “Protecting stakeholders. The valida- Village of Paki Massabong Women’s customary Land tion workshop for the Masi- Chiefdom in Bombali District Rights in Sierra Leone” Pro- ma village mapping in February 2018. The find- ject that is implemented by brought together 146 peo- ings of the mapping show FAO in collaboration with ple from neighbouring com- that the entire Masima vil- the Ministry of Lands, Hous- munities, including national lage belonging to the Ban- ing and Environment and and local authorities. gura Family has a total area
FAO Sierra Leone Newsletter - 10 In his address, the Para- FAO supports Sierra Leone to combat mount Chief and co- the spread of Fall Army Warm chairperson of the Provincial Committee on Land in the North, Bai Shebora Kasanga II, congratulated the people of Paki Massabong Chief- dom for their cooperation on the project. He noted that the piloted boundary demarcation was indeed a learning programme and that Paramount Chiefs who remained custodians of land ©FAO/Keifa Jaward The FAO Consultant Entomologist, Wilfred Hammond educating agriculture extension officers cannot safely protect their on the management of the Fall Armywarm land if they had no proper land information and clear The Food and Agriculture Or- ers from MAFFS and other delimitation on actual size ganization of the United Na- samples brought forward by of their lands. tions (FAO) has provided farmers in various districts
The revised map of Masima USD99, 427 (Ninety nine in the country. It was then village is to be printed and thousand four hundred and clear that the pest is every- copies handed over to the twenty seven United States where in the country and al- chiefdom administration dollars) to Sierra Leone’s ready causing serious dam- and heads of families to be Ministry of Agriculture, For- age to crops like maize. The displayed at the chiefdom estry and Food Security scale of the damage is yet to community centres. The (MAFFS) to tackle the spread be assessed across the success of the Masima pilot of Fall Army Warm (FAW) in country, but the degree of has resulted into other the country. presence is high in almost all neighbouring communities FAW was confirmed in Sierra the districts. starting to demand for the Leone on Saturday, 4 No- The project is funded by the replication of the mapping/ vember 2017 from samples FAO which emanates from demarcation exercise in collected in the country by the Technical Cooperation their own villages. FAO experts assisted by na- Programme (TCP) for Sierra tional plant protection offic- Leone.
FAO Sierra Leone Newsletter - 11 New arrivals
Aligning Sierra Leone’s Forestry Bill with recent statutory instruments and validation of the Community Based Forest (CBF) Guidelines
The Sierra Leone Forestry issues .for a detailed review Act was enacted in 1988 of the Forestry Bill in line with financial support from with other related instru- FAO. It remains the only ment and a steering com- Samuel Mabikke (PhD) legal instrument that regu- mittee to be formed to Joined FAO Sierra Leone on 14 February lates the affairs of the move the process forward 2018 as the Land Tenure and Natural country’s forestry sector. by coordinating with the Resources Management Officer oversee- The document has been de- FAO Legal office in Rome. ing the implementation of all FAO’s NRM scribed by many stakehold- projects on Land, Forestry and Fisheries ers to be very obsolete and Also, after successfully pi- within the broader framework for imple- inconsistent with many na- loting the Community mentation of the Voluntary Guidelines on tional and international in- Based Forest (CBF) con- Responsible Governance of Tenure of struments and treaties. cept at four sites in the Land, Fisheries and Forests in the context country, FAO and the For- of National Food Security (VGGT). Several attempts were estry Division designed a Dr. Samuel Mabikke is a Land and Natu- made to review the Act comprehensive CBF Guide- ral Resources Tenure Specialist, with over the years, all have line for Sierra Leone to help over 10 years of experience working on coordinate and streamline failed mainly due to lack of land tenure policy and reforms. Prior to the uncoordinated imple- fund, and the failure of ma- joining FAO, he worked with the Urban jor stakeholders to convene mentation of the concept in Legislation, Land and Governance Branch and review the act in a par- the country. of the United Nations Human Settlements ticipatory manner. Programme (UN-Habitat) as a Land Ten- Stakeholders in the forestry ure Specialist. Upon request from the Gov- sector validated the Com- ernment of Sierra Leone, munity Based Forest (CBF) the FAO Legal Office is Guideline on 7 and 8 June leading the review of the 2018. the document in- Act. tends to guide individuals and institutions that are in- During a technical review terested in supporting or workshop on 20 and 22 implementing CBF nation- wide. June 2018, stakeholders Dr Germain Bobo discussed the missing re- quirements for environment FAO together with govern- Is a specialist in tropical Animal health ment partners is on re- and production. He joined FAO Sierra Leo- and social impact assess- ne on 10 May 2018 as ECTAD Team Lead- ment; clarity in the roles, source mobilization to en- er for the achievement of the EPT2/ GHSA functions and responsibili- sure that the CBF approach goals funded by the USAID. ties of various institutions; is institutionalized and Dr Bobo is experienced in both private legal basis for compulsory scaled-up to 169 chiefdoms and public veterinary services at national acquisition or compensation in the country. The next and international levels. and flexible Community phase is intended to cover protected forests as well. Before joining FAO, he was a Coordinator Based Forest (CBF) agree- of the ALive partnership Secretariat at the ments to cater for the spec- African Union, Inter African Bureau for ificities of key forest related Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) based in FAO Sierra Leone Newsletter - 12 Nairobi, Kenya. For comments and suggestions, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Sierra Leone 11 Jalloh Terrace, Aberdeen, Freetown, Tel: (+232) 78 798656, Email: Email: [email protected], www.fao.org/sierraleone [email protected] CA0911EN/1/07.18 [email protected] ©FAO, 2018