By Amara Thoronka

Dr. Henry Musa Kpaka, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, has highlighted recent gains in implementing the Feed Salone initiative which happens to be the flagship development program of the President Julius Maada Bio led government.

In a public information sharing video over the weekend, the agriculture minister mentioned the visit of a high-level delegation from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) who, according to the Minister, were in the country to assess development in areas they help government.

“This week, we had a visit from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). In January this year, we signed with IFAD a US$15 million program to support Apex Bank which gives rural financial institutions money. So, the IFAD visit was to assess development in that sector and help government plan well,” he said.

Minister Kpaka also said that part of the support from development partners and government’s effort is having an agricultural extension program to teach farmers how to do agriculture as business and also to digitalize the rural community banks to make financial transactions faster and easier.

On the legal reform front, the agriculture minister informed the public of an Animal Health and Welfare Protection bill which they are pushing for enactment by the House of Parliament.

“We are also working with Parliament to enact an Animal Welfare bill. The bill covers a wide range of animal related issues to handle the livestock component of the Feed Salone project,” he said, noting that the Ministry has engaged lawmakers to better understand the importance of such bill.

Dr Kpaka added that: “We have also signed an MoU with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and the Ministry of Fisheries to do four fish ponds in eight districts which will be done by youths. The said MoU is about where and how we are going to implement the fish pond project and how we can train young people to take the project as a business. This is a pilot phase which we hope to expand to other districts and communities.”

He also cited a recent partnership signed by President Bio and the Director General of the International Institute of Tropic Agriculture (IITA) which he referred to as the premier agricultural institution in Africa, adding that the said partnership will boost the Feed Salone efforts.

As research and capacity building is crucial in realizing agricultural productivity, the Minister of Agriculture disclosed that 14 persons have been certified for study abroad on several agriculture-related areas.

“And very importantly, with the connections and efforts of President Bio in realizing success in the Feed Salone program, we are sending 14 students of the Sierra Leone Agricultural Research Institute (SLARI) overseas to do academic doctorate programs covering all areas of the Feed Salone program. In our effort to realize fair gender representation, over 30 percent of the students are women,” he said.

In his first term in office, President Bio placed education at the very top of his priorities; however, though education continues to be a top priority in his second term presidency, his Feed Salone agriculture and food security program is now the most prioritized.