Commonwealth Director-General For The Agriculture Ministry
By Marian Samu

Thursday, August 26th:- The newly appointed Director-General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security, Mr. Patrick Hanmer has paid a courtesy call on President Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah at his Hill Station office.

The British-born Director-General, who was accompanied by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security, Dr. Sama S. Monde, has been contracted to the Ministry of Agriculture by the Commonwealth , with a view to enhancing the capacity of the Ministry towards its goal of achieving food security by 2007.

Mr. Patrick Hanmer expressed profound pleasure being in Sierra Leone, particularly in his capacity as a support staff from the Commonwealth to the decentralization process the government of Sierra Leone is pursuing. He said his main focus would be on increasing production, adding value, and creating the enabling environment where the highest prices, maximum profitability and economies of scale can be derived.

The President, Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah in his remarks to the new Director-General, noted the necessity of involving the Ministry in the marketing process. The President pointed out that production can be good but that the people would be unhappy if they are unable to sell their produce. The President said that the Ministry should ensure that there are enough markets to accommodate the produce of the farmers, who would be discouraged from producing more if their items are not sold or given priority.

He also brought to the attention of the Director-General the need for the diversification of diets. He said that Sierra Leoneans concentrate too much on rice as their main diet,adding that there was need to look at other foods taking into consideration the nutritional value and advantage of variety in food consumption.

The President noted the opportunity of a huge market potential in the West African sub-region,especially as some countries have diversified their diet to include rice. He sighted Nigeria and Ghana as very good examples,noting that Nigeria with a population of over one hundred million people as compared to only five million people in Sierra Leone would be a ready market for Sierra Leonean produced rice and cassava.Again,with the increase in the demand for cassava especially for the production of starch in such places as Europe,President Kabbah also admonished that people should be encouraged to go into cassava cultivation,which, unlike diamonds where you can spend more time and end up having a small piece of diamond,yeilds good dividend with hard work.

The new Director-General told President Kabbah that he believes his coming is timely especially when government is pre-occupied with the aspect of decentralization and devolution.Director-General Hanmer also spoke about the necessity of restructuring the Ministry to help accelerate efficiency and effectiveness.

Talking about the rehabilitation of our plantations, President Kabbah said that after the war, he had approached some donors like the United States, and that the new Ambassador had promised to help in that area.

President Kabbah also talked about finding ways to evaluate the assets of the Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Board so as to make them once more productive even if it meant selling them to a private commercial company ready to pay for them.

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