Agriculture in Sierra Leone
The agriculture in Sierra Leone is playing in West Africa Sierra Leone , particularly in the self-sufficiency , a prominent economic role . The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is in charge of expanding agriculture . The Produce Monitoring Board is responsible for marketing .
background
While Sierra Leone was always able to provide for itself with the staple food rice until the 1980s , this has not been the case since the beginning of the 1990s with the beginning of the civil war that lasted until 2002 . Agriculture in almost all areas is based on the inefficient and hardly economically oriented subsistence economy . At 124 kilograms per capita per year, Sierra Leone is one of the largest consumers of rice in sub-Saharan Africa .
Economical meaning
The Agriculture contributes (as of 2017) 60.7 percent of gross domestic product at. The proportion of the working population in the primary economic sector is almost as high (60.1 percent) . While most food, including staple foods, has to be imported, Sierra Leone mainly exports cocoa beans and palm oil .
The main problems in connection with agriculture include the destruction of the primary forest (only 15 percent of the original area is preserved) as a result of the necessary slash and burn due to shifting cultivation , soil erosion and soil degradation . The lack of arable land, especially due to sales to foreigners, is increasing and has great potential for conflict.
Numerous international organizations, especially those involved in development cooperation, are involved in various projects on the subject of agriculture and food security in Sierra Leone. For example, USAID supports the country in the expansion of aquaculture .
Crops
rice
|
rice
|
|
|---|---|
| year | metric tons |
| in thousands | |
| 2017 | 1400,000 |
| 2016 | 1560.363 |
| 2015 | 871,693 |
| 2010 | 1026.671 |
| 2005 | 552,000 |
| 2000 | 199,134 |
| 1990 | 503,700 |
| 1980 | 513,000 |
| 1970 | 450,000 |
Rice cultivation in Sierra Leone declined continuously from 1990 to 2000, which was mainly due to the civil war. The area under cultivation decreased from almost 393,000 hectares in 1990 to 183,200 ten years later. At the same time, at 199,000 tons, significantly less than the more than 503,000 tons in 1990 were produced. After the civil war, production increased again significantly to 552,000 tons in 2005, roughly the value in the 1980s. In 2017, production was around 1.4 million tonnes on a cultivated area of around more than 647,000 hectares.
Cassava
Besides rice, cassava is another staple food in Sierra Leone. The root is mainly grown in the southwest, central and far north of Sierra Leone. The harvest is mainly dependent on disease infestation by the African cassava mosaic virus and fungal infestation by Rigidoporus microporus , but has increased steadily since 1970.
In 2005, cassav production was 2.287 million tons and rose to 4.76 million tons in 2017. In contrast, there were only 82,500 and 95,000 tons in 1980 and 1990, respectively.
Other products
Sweet potatoes are also an important agricultural product in Sierra Leone. In 2005, 191,500 tons were still produced. This compares to 248,247 tons in 2017. The production of peanuts was relatively constant between 1970 and 2000 at 10,000 to 20,000 tons per year. Almost 105,000 tons were produced in 2005 and has since fallen to just under 65,000 tons in 2017. Contrary to the international trend, the production of palm kernels for the manufacture of palm oil and palm fruits in Sierra Leone declined. In 2017 the harvest of palm fruits amounted to 211,292 tons, of palm kernels almost 29,000 tons.
In addition, sorghum , corn , millet and citrus fruits , sugar cane , cocoa beans, coffee and coconuts and cashews are grown in Sierra Leone .
Livestock
The livestock farming plays no major commercial role in Sierra Leone. It is mainly used for self-sufficiency. The most common are cattle , sheep , goats , pigs and poultry (especially chickens , musk ducks and guinea fowl ). The population, especially of cattle, decreased significantly during the civil war. Cattle are mainly kept by the Fula in the north of the country.
| 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2005 | 2010 | 2015 | 2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beef | 296,000 | 348,000 | 330,000 | 200,000 | 250,000 | 517,000 | 798.820 | 700,000 |
| goat | 102,000 | 136,000 | 148,800 | 200,000 | 318,381 | 803,000 | 904.938 | 900,000 |
| sheep | 185,000 | 267,000 | 270.910 | 200,000 | 272.222 | 682,000 | 881,577 | 870,000 |
| Poultry chickens ducks |
2,900,000 45,000 |
4,050,000 52,000 |
6,000,000 62,000 |
4,000,000 70,000 |
3,329,000 311,000 |
9,460,000 803,000 |
12,500,000 1,144,000 |
12,500,000 1,100,000 |
| pig | 20,000 | 36,000 | 50,000 | 52,000 | 18,372 | 47,364 | 63,677 | 50,838 |
| source | ||||||||
literature
- Coalition for African Rice Development (Ed.): National Rice Development Strategy - Sierra Leone. 2009 ( jica.go.jp PDF).
- Jonathan Ellis Massaquoi: Agricultural production adjustments to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production in Sierra Leone. Cornell University, August 1987.
- Scott R. Pearson, Josiah Dirck Stryker et al : Rice in West Africa: Policy and Economics. Stanford University Press, 1981.
- Jean M. Due, Gerald L. Karr: Strategies for Increasing Rice Production in Sierra Leone. In: African Studies Review. Issue 16, No. 1, April Cambridge University Press, 1973, pp. 23-71.
Web links
- Official website of the Ministry of Agriculture (English)
- Produce Monitoring Board (English)
- FAO on Sierra Leone (English)
- Further reading on the topic (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alphajoh Alhadi Bah: Strategies for Promoting Rice Self-sufficiency in Sierra Leone . In: Journal of Northeast Agricultural University , Volume 20, Issue 4, December 2013, pp. 78-86.
- ^ Sierra Leone. World Fact Book. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
- ^ Sierra Leone slash and burn. Huckbody Environmental Ltd., April 5, 2011.
- ↑ Sierra Leone's smallholder farmers 'worse off' after large land deals. The Guardian, July 26, 2013.
- ↑ Farmland - the New “Blood Diamonds” in Sierra Leone? Truth Out, May 23, 2013.
- ^ Protecting investors, but what about the people ?. Pambazuka News, May 6, 2010.
- ^ Sierra Leone and UN strike deal to increase food security. Public Finance International, May 4, 2019.
- ^ Agriculture and Food Security. USAID. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
- ^ Sierra Leone. FAO. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
- ↑ a b c International Monetary Fund (Ed.): Sierra Leone: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper — Annual Progress Report. in: IMF Country Report. Washington DC, June 2007, 07/17, p. 49.
- ↑ a b c d e f Sierra Leone. FAOSTAT. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
- ^ Clair H. Hershey: Cassava breeding: a multidisciplinary review: proceedings of a workshop held in the Philippines, March 4-7, 1985 . Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, United Nations Development Program, 1987, ISBN 978-84-89206-68-7 , pp. 267-268.
- ↑ Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere: Rebuilding after Emergency: Revamping Agricultural Research after Sierra Leone Civil War . Intl Food Policy Res Inst, p. 5.
- ↑ CH Hoste: Trypanotolerant livestock in west and central Africa: A decade's results . International Livestock Center for Africa (aka ILCA and ILRAD), 1992, ISBN 978-92-9053-261-3 , pp. 69-70.