By Abubakarr Bah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“Agriculture and Food security are the cornerstones of a nation’s stability and prosperity. They transcend mere sustenance and form a crucial pillar of national resilience, economic growth, and social wellbeing,” says His Excellency the President Brig. (Rtd.) Dr. Julius Maada Bio at the recent State Opening of Parliament of the Republic of Sierra Leone. This statement by the First Gentleman of our Nation sums up the honour I was thinking of writing regarding President’s Julius Maada Bio’s unwavering commitment towards addressing food self-sufficiency in Sierra Leone.
The President, in fact, manifested this recently as we saw him doing his second harvest of 7 tonnes of fish plus other agricultural produce at his Mafintha farm in the Masiaka Highway. I will return to this later.
But why is the President prioritizing agriculture and food security? Well, the next four decades will be the most important in human history because we are facing a global food and environmental crisis. The World Food Programme (WFP) in its ‘Saving Lives Changing Lives’ report of 18th March, 2024, reveals that “millions of people are in the grips of catastrophic hunger, globally.” Locally, WFP’s ‘Food Security Monitoring System’ report of February 2024 reveals that “82% of the Sierra Leone population is food insecure.”
So, how can we end the global food crisis? The WFP says “a coordinated effort across government, financial institutions, the private sector and partners, is the only way to end the global food crisis. This can be done by promoting good nutrition and improving food systems in a way that lays the foundations of a more prosperous future for millions.”
In the face of this enormous obstacle, every country needs decisive, thoughtful action-oriented leaders who understand what leadership ought to look like to address the food self-sufficiency. In order to address this crisis in our country, His Excellency President, Dr. Julius Maada during an engagement with development partners and stakeholders in the agriculture sector, on the 5th October, 2023, at the New Brookfields Hotel in Freetown, announced his government’s allocation of 10% of the national budget towards the FEED SALONE Initiative for the next five years.
The President also said that his government has created a $10 million United States facility to stimulate private sector participation in importing and distributing fertiliser, seed production, and other agrochemicals. He called for a total transformation of the agriculture sector adding that “we must now turn our rural areas from economic misery to economic prosperity zones.” The President reiterated that the Feed Salone programme encapsulated his government’s vision for sustainable agricultural transformation, which should build on gains and scale-up interventions to foster food security and sovereignty in Sierra Leone.
During the World Food Day celebration in Pujehun, Southern Sierra Leone, on 16th October, 2023, the President re-echoed his commitment to his vision of addressing food self-sufficiency in Sierra Leone. President Bio expressed his government’s strong commitment to increasing agricultural productivity to address food security and sovereignty.” I am using this World Food Day to crown myself as the Chief Farmer from today. After all, I come from a Ruling House. As the Chief Farmer, I see fertile lands and a nation ripe with agriculture potential and teeming with possibilities. I fervently desire that we use our agricultural potential to attain Food Security and Sovereignty in Sierra Leone in our lifetime,” President Bio said.
As the ‘tok n do’ President, His Excellency has produced tremendous goodies in the agriculture sector through his administration’s commitment to the FEED SALONE programme. On the 15thSeptember, 2024, the Fountain of Honour And Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of Sierra Leone demonstrated visionary leadership as the Chief Farmer as he undertook his second harvest of 7 tonnes of fish and various agricultural produce from his farm in Mafintha, Masiaka Highway, Koya Chiefdom in the Port Loko District.
Dressed in casual attire, the Chief Farmer actively participated in the harvesting from fish ponds he had built a couple of months earlier. According to a media release from the State House Communications Unit, “President Bio emphasized the importance of fish farming for all Sierra Leoneans, encouraging even small-scale investments in the sector. He highlighted that locally produced agricultural products are often more nutritious than imported alternatives.”
The President encouraged all Sierra Leoneans to support government’s efforts by engaging in rice farming, livestock rearing and cash crop production and agro-business development to achieve food security and economic growth for a prosperous nation. He urged citizens to be proud of made-in Sierra Leone products, stressing that this would not only inspire local farmers but also help in revamping the economy as it will put money into the pockets of those who work tirelessly to cultivate our land.
“I am involved in farming to inspire more Sierra Leoneans to consider agriculture seriously,” President Bio said. “The Feed Salone Initiative is a national program that we should all embrace, regardless of our political or regional affiliations.”
At the poultry section of the President’s farm, Mr. Petemaa Sheriff, the Poultry Consultant of the President’s farm is quoted by the State House’s Communication Unit as saying that “the President’s poultry farm produces an impressive 7,600 eggs daily,” adding that plans were on the way to expand operations to further increase production.” Mr. Sheriff said that the farm utilizes locally produced feeds that are 100% organic, ensuring the quality of the eggs for every household.
It has been confirmed that the President’s farm in the Koya Chiefdom also offers technical services to citizens interested in fish, vegetable, and poultry farming. The technical services include skills to produce local feeds, processing and packaging chicken, growing vegetables, raising small and large ruminants, and providing training for youth on poultry management.
As a transformational leader, President Bio believes in the words of the American scholar, Warren Bennis (March 8, 1925 – July 31, 2014), who once rightly stated that “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” President Bio’s commitment to achieving food security in Sierra Leone clearly shows how he has been able to translate his vision for the country to attain food self-sufficiency.
Commenting on social media, many Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad commended President Bio for setting the pace whichh all of his political appointees and private citizens should emulate to end hunger and achieve food security and economic growth in Sierra Leone. In a Facebook comment, one Santigie Brima Koroma in Lunsar, Port Loko District, described President Bio as indeed the Father of the Nation for his extensive strides and commitment to provide food for his people. Koroma urged all Sierra Leoneans across the country, irrespective of political affiliation, to emulate the President to ensuring food self-sufficiency in Sierra Leone.
Apart from the aforementioned, President Bio has also shown strong commitment in the production of rice, which is the country’s staple food. On June 11 2021, the President launched the $34.1 million Sierra Leone Regional Rice Value Chain project in Torma Bum in the Bonthe district. This project is directly benefitting 7,000 women and young farmers, along with 35,000 farming families growing rice on 35,000 hectares of farmlands in the project locations.
The President’s aggressive drive to lure development partners to support his food security drive saw on November 1, 2022 the Chinese government donating agricultural machinery to boost mechanized farming. The consignment included 400 mobile rice threshers, 400 winnowers, 60 rice whiteners, 400 brush cutters, 500 rice transplanters, 100 chain saws, 400 knapsack manual sprayers, 200 repair tool kits, 100 hand drills, 5 diesel generator sets, 200 grease guns and 10 diesel welder sets. According to a media release from State House, “the machines and tools will be deployed in farm service centres at Gberay Junction in Port Loko district to serve farmers around 100,000 hectares of the rice bowl of Kambia, Port Loko, Tonkolili, Falaba and Koinadugu districts in the northern region. Another will be located in Bo to serve 160,000 hectares of arable rice-producing areas of Bo, Bonthe, Pujehun, Moyamba and Tonkolili districts.”
Rome was not built in a day, and definitely Sierra Leone-a post-war country that was also confronted with the serious challenges of the outbreaks of the deadly EBOLA and COVID-19- cannot be built in a day. But the foundations that President Bio has laid in many sectors, including in agriculture, will surely enable us as a country to achieve the kind of sustainable development all of us the citizens have been yearning for.