KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT
ALHAJI DR AHMAD TEJAN KABBAH
AT THE NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON THE THEME:
"FOUR YEARS OF FOOD SECURITY; LESSONS LEARNT AND THE WAY FORWARD"
ON FRIDAY 19TH MAY 2006
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Mr Chairman
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen:

Four years ago today at the beginning of my second term I launched my policy on food security, which is a basic human right. The objective of this policy is to ensure that every citizen has access to food at all times. That commitment is consistent with our strategy for job creation for our youths and women and poverty reduction among rural communities.

Mr Chairman, when I made the pledge in May 2002 I was conscious of our endowments with adequate land, water, good climate as well as abundant human resource. I was also aware of the ability of the women, men and youths of this country to rise up to the challenge, once sensitised and empowered to achieve household food security in the short term and national food security in the medium to long term. So after four years of this journey together we ask; have Sierra Leoneans risen to the challenge of food security? Will we banish hunger from this nation by 2007? How have we performed since 2002? Indeed what is the status of food security today?

Mr Chairman, food security, we all know, is about adequate quantity for regular consumption, adequate quality to ensure safety and proper nutrition and adequate back up or safety nets in case of natural or man-made disasters. It is also about ensuring equity in access for every child, woman and man and in an environment where all these can be enjoyed. Therefore, Mr Chairman, right from the beginning it was clear that if this pledge was to be realized much was needed to be done by all stakeholders including a change of our attitudes.

For this purpose, my Government with the support of the international community started with the National Recovery Strategy for 2002 - 2003 as a framework for the implementation of our food security policy. In this regard Government gave priority attention to the restoration of the basic needs and services including safe water, roads, communication, shelter, primary education and basic health care. The foundation was laid within the context of an improved national security and good governance.

Mr Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, in order to achieve food self sufficiency within the specified timeframe of five years we needed seeds, healthy livestock and the commitment and know-how of men, women, children and young Sierra Leoneans working hard to sow, weed, protect and harvest the crop. We also needed the private sector to invest in commercial farming and the international community and NGOs to provide the badly needed support for our efforts.

In June 2002 the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations fielded a mission to Sierra Leone to study the agricultural sector and identify the best approaches towards the attainment of food security. The work of that mission resulted in the Agricultural Sector Review document which contains the most comprehensive state of the art report on agriculture in Sierra Leone. Secondly it supported the development of the Agricultural Policy for Sierra Leone which is now in its final stages of completion. Thirdly the FAO introduced the Special Programme for Food Security which we call "Operation Feed the Nation". To conduct this special programme the experts adopted the Farmer Field School System which stands out as the most modern extension delivery system currently. So far there are 767 Farmers Field Schools involving 20,000 farmers to date.

The FAO also helped to establish the Right to Food Secretariat with funding support from the Government of Germany. This Secretariat works as the food security coordinating, monitoring and evaluation umbrella agency to ensure the full participation of all government ministries, the donor community, non-governmental organisations and the private sector to work together towards the realization of the Right to Adequate Food for all the people in Sierra Leone.

Mr Chairman, the FAO is also supporting the School Garden Programme which is presently being implemented in 50 schools in three districts of Kambia, Kono and Tonkolili. Presently a consultant has been hired to develop curricular on food security to be used by schools in the country.

My Government wishes to convey its gratitude to the FAO and all donors who are supporting activities geared towards food security. The visit of the Director General here last year to see for himself the progress we are making in the implementation of our food security policy is a gesture intended to reassure us of FAO's firm commitment to our cause for which we are thankful as a people.

I am pleased to acknowledge with thanks the numerous and varied interventions which have had a positive impact. I also wish to recognise with appreciation the role played by our development partners. As a result of all these agricultural production has increased considerably from 2002 to the present time. The level of achievement in the production of rice today is assessed at 69%. The production of cassava was doubled while sweet potato production also achieved very good results. I will be remiss in my duty if I fail to highlight the positive contribution of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in all of these achievements.

Mr. Chairman, on our part, my Government has been increasing the subventions to the Agriculture and Food Security sector from 2.7% of the GDP in 2002 to 5.6% in 2006. This figure goes to support the requirements of the African Union that within five years African countries should assign 10% of their GDP to agriculture and rural development. With this funding the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has been steadily increasing inputs to farmers in order to enable us attain pre-war levels and then to improve our output. For example government over the years has supplied planting materials of seed rice, cassava, sweet potatoes, maize and vegetables, fertilizers (up to 2004) power tillers and tractors, rice threshers and hullers, oil presses and mini mills; built stores and drying floors and markets, all intended to enhance productivity. Within the same period government has supplied oil palm seedlings, cashew nut seedlings and ginger to farmers throughout the country to improve income generation by farmers and strengthen export earnings from these crops.

Farmers continue to benefit from the improved varieties of rice, cassava, sweet potatoes and grain legumes from the research institutions of this country and regional and global institutions. Notable among these are the NERICA varieties of rice being disseminated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the Rice Research Station at Rokupr with the support of the African Development Bank and the Africa Rice Centre (WARDA); and the improved cassava and potato varieties being released by the Institute of Agricultural Research at Njala.

Mr Chairman, I am pleased to note that through the active support of the donor community and the participation of the private sector the livestock population has almost attained pre-war levels. The challenge now is to sustain this gain and in fact upscale it so that this sub sector could play its rightful role in food security in the future.

The Ministry of Fisheries has also been assisting artisanal fisher folk with inputs to increase their catch which the majority of Sierra Leoneans depend on.

Mr Chairman, to complement our efforts, a number of countries and agencies have provided the much needed assistance over the years. In brief we recall with gratitude the support of the Peoples Republic of China in providing farm machinery, in training several agricultural technicians. China will shortly establish a technical team in Sierra Leone for large-scale hybrid rice cultivation. The team will be based initially at Rokupr.

The Government of Iran has supplied us 69 tractors to date while Libya has supplied 35 tractors and some implements.

The Government of Germany is supporting the sustainable Seed Production Project in order to revive the Seed Multiplication Project. So far they have produced 500 Metric Tonnes of good quality seeds after two years of work. Germany is also supporting the Food Security project in Kono and Kailahun Districts as well as the Right to Food Secretariat in Freetown.
The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is about to launch the Kambia District Agricultural Development Project, which targets crop production with emphasis on post harvest management, crop processing and value addition. The Rice Research Station will provide technical backstopping during project implementation.

Support from the Government of Malaysia to the project entitled "Capacity Building for Oil Palm Production, Processing and Marketing" will add value to oil palm products and improve the earnings of farmers. The total project cost of US$9 million will be provided as follows: Islamic Development Bank $6 million, Malaysian Government $2 million and the Government of Sierra Leone $1 million. This project will be tailored after the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) Scheme of resettlement and job creation for the rural communities. It is also designed to encourage young people currently residing in urban areas without jobs to relocate to these settlements for gainful employment. This project will elaborate upon the efforts of the Commonwealth Secretariat in London which had provided funding for a pilot project to establish six mini mills in the country for oil palm processing and to supply 10,000 improved oil palm seedlings to 50 cooperating farmers around the country who were given basic training in oil palm management.

We also note with much appreciation the contribution of the Government of Ireland in supporting the Agricultural Business Units (ABUs), a project being supervised by the UNDP and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

So far the Egyptian Government has trained a few Sierra Leoneans in Egypt and sent two experts, one in livestock and the other in irrigation to work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
Recently two experts from the State of Israel conducted the training of 40 Sierra Leoneans at Levuma Beach, Waterloo in vegetable production by drip irrigation methods.

The United States Government and the European Community are also very supportive of the Food Security Programme making their interventions through NGOs.

Presently the European Community (EC) approved Euros 4.5 million Stabex funds for the rehabilitation of tree crops in the country.

The National Association of Farmers of Sierra Leone and the NGO Community are playing very vital roles towards the food security programme. The Government appreciates these efforts.

Mr Chairman, I will also like to recognize the increasing support of the multilateral donor banks. For instance IFAD and the ADB are jointly funding a $30 million agriculture and rural development project to cover seven districts of Kono, Kailahun, Kenema, Pujehun, Moyamba, Port Loko and Kambia. The Islamic Development Bank has approved $11 million for the Diversified Food Production project to cover Bo, Tonkolili and Bombali. The Malaysia Oil Palm Project will be located in the Provincial Headquarters and in the Western Area.

For Koinadugu District there are frantic efforts to develop a livestock rehabilitation and development project to be funded by the IDB.

The World Bank is actively engaged in the formulation of a Rural and Private Sector Development Project to strengthen the private sector and promote the marketing of agricultural products in order to maximize returns from farming. The amount involved is $28 million.

Mr Chairman, as a way to establish a healthy and stable macro-economic environment for food security, my government continues to construct new road networks, markets and stores, to improve upon water and sanitation and to construct multiple health centres throughout the country. We are constantly improving on all aspects of good governance, the rule of law and human rights.

We are also engaged with other development partners to improve the energy and telecommunication sectors of the economy and we are making encouraging strides in these areas.

Mr. Chairman, job creation especially for the youth of this country is at the heart of the PRSP Programme and therefore a priority for this government. In this regard, I am pleased to acknowledge the rehabilitation and development of the Magbass Sugar Company in Magburaka which has employed up to 1500 workers. Magbass has just exported to Europe 5,800 metric tonnes of sugar, which will bring in the much needed foreign exchange. In fact the country's foreign exchange base has started to increase with the export of about 500 metric tonnes of cashew nuts and 40 metric tonnes of ginger per year for a start.

Government has set up the National Security Agency which manages disasters. Of special note is the Avian Influenza Pandemic which government has moved very fast to put necessary measures for prevention and control.

Therefore, Mr Chairman, ladies and gentlemen this account of our efforts as a government together with donor partners have contributed immensely to the good results we have so far secured in the food security programme. But this is not enough. We have to sustain these gains and improve upon them to make food security a basic human right.

So for the way forward my government will continue to seek creative strategies for the Right to Food Secretariat (RTFS) to become fully operational in supporting the Ministerial Committee under the chairmanship of the Vice President. With the support of FAO, Government has put in place the following modalities:

" Setting up of District Food Security Committees to coordinate, monitoring and evaluation of agricultural services at the District level;
" Embarked on the development of an effective communication strategy to build an information infrastructure that will reach all the different stakeholder groups in the agriculture industry;
" Undertake a legal review of right to food security issues by examining the Constitution of Sierra Leone Act No.6 of 1991 and other laws to ensure that there is explicit provision for food as a human right in Sierra Leone.

For the immediate future there is the Cassava Initiative which I established recently to develop this crop as an important industrial/poverty alleviation crop in Sierra Leone. The Task Force charged with responsibility for this initiative is working hard to develop proposals for funding and organize stakeholders for production, processing and marketing of the products. The Chinese Government has expressed interest in cooperating with my Government for cassava production, processing and possible export to China. The details of this project will be made public in due course. Meanwhile Sierra Leoneans who are interested in this project may contact the Cassava Initiative Task Force in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

The HIV/AIDS scourge still poses a major limiting factor to agricultural productivity. While government continues to improve the health status of Sierra Leoneans it will continue to sustain the high premium attention on this disease as a way to control its spread among the people.

Finally Mr Chairman, ladies and gentlemen let me invite all well meaning Sierra Leoneans and our development partners to continue to support the food security programme until the battle against hunger is won for now and for future generation.

For now as a token appreciation of persons and agencies which have contributed to Food Security I am going to present certificates of recognition to them during this ceremony. I hope by this gesture more and more Sierra Leoneans will double their efforts so that they can also be recognised.

I thank you for your attention and I now declare this National Symposium on Food Security open.

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