WARDA Director-General Calls On President Kabbah
By Marian Samu

Thursday-August 26: Food Security has, in the past two years, been the touchstone of every public pronouncement by His Excellency, President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. Tremendous efforts have been made to bring on board donor agencies, development partners and the private sector so as to ensure the realization of President Kabbah's vision of food security for Sierra Leone by the year 2007.

As a result,a team of rice experts from WARDA, the West African Rice Research Center, headed by the Director-General Dr. Kanayo F. Nwanze, today called on President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah to apprise him of their hission to Sierra Leone.

Presenting the team to President Kabbah, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security, Dr. Sama S. Monde said the team is in Sierra Leone to look at the Ministry's programmes and identify areas of intervention. Dr. Monde informed the President that the World Food award winner, Dr. Monty Jones, a Sierra Leonean and rice scientist ,is also working with WARDA

Welcoming the WARDA Director-General and team, President Kabbah said that he has seen how the people have responded to his call for Food Security in his country-wide travels.

The President informed his guests that the idea of growing food for himself started years back when he and his late wife made plans for their retirement from the United Nations . He said he had made this possible by having his own farm, and in demonstrating to the people that farming is a noble profession, he personally participated in the harvesting on his own rice farm. President Kabbah, however, told the team that his government requires the help of WARDA especially in the area of research. He also talked about the Rokupr Rice Research Station, which he said needs a lot of rehabilitation and revitalization.

President Kabbah told his guests that there is need for training, stressing the urgent need for Sierra Leoneans to be well trained in rice production. The President also mentioned the probability of setting up an operational seed laboratory where varieties of seed rice would be available at all times.

The Director-General of WARDA, Dr. Kanayo Nwanze, thanked the President for the audience granted them. He said that although their programmes are of an international nature, they have the responsibility to respond to national programmes for a successful outcome of their activities.

Dr. Nwanze said that Sierra Leoneans should be very proud of having the first African ever to be given the World Food Prize in the person of Dr. Monty Jones, whom he discribed as the father of NERICA (New Rice for Africa) species, adding that it is a pride that Sierra Leone should be the first country to benefit from NERICA.

Dr. Nwanze observed that all and sundry should therefore be involved to make sure that the goal of food security by 2007 is realized. He said WARDA would do everything possible to ensure that the dream comes true. "Any government that declares agriculture as a backbone of its economic growth in Africa is on the right track", he said.

The WARDA Director-General said the Ministry of Agriculture should try to identify key priority areas that have the potential for maximum impact in a short term, as well as medium and long term programmes, noting that the full value chain of food production is from production to consumption. Farmers, he said, should regard agriculture as a business, and this involves intensive public sensitisation. Dr. Nwanze further stated that the farmers should be given incentive for them to produce more.This, he added, would only be realised with the help of local and international partners.

Speaking on the issue of research, Dr. Nwanze said WARDA has had a long relationship with the Rice Research Station at Rokupr, and that they would do all they can to consolidate this support. He also stated that DFID, the British Department for International Development, had already been approached on the issue and that the report from their visit is awaited.

President Kabbah ended by commending Dr. Nwanze for the encouraging assurances he had received. He told the WARDA Director-General that as a first step to providing incentive for farmers to produce more rice, he has made it a rule that all purchase and supply of rice to government institutions like hospitals, government schools, etc. should be from local rice producers.

-End-