The Managing Director of Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Company (SLMPMC) Henry Yamba Kamara has said that the Ebola outbreak has had a devastating effect on farming local produce thereby causing slump in crop production.
The Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Company Limited was established by the Government of Sierra Leone to comply with the various regulations in relation to the buying and exporting of produce focusing primarily on buying and exporting of quality agricultural produce.
The company secures and make available for sale quality agricultural produce in the export market and local processing industry at an economic price, whilst guaranteeing fair prices to local farmers.
According to the Managing Director some of the products marketed by the SLPMC include coffee, Cocoa, Cashew, rice, palm oil and sorghum. He explained that they provide a platform for farmers to market their agriculture products for food security and export promotion.
He said in 2014, the Ebola outbreak disrupted the farming activities of smallholder farmers, many could not harvest their produce at the farms due to the restriction.
He also said that this year could have been a better year but due to the Ebola outbreak it caused a poor harvest for farmers.
He added that produce buyers also found it difficult to reach out to the farms to enable them make farm gate prices because most of the areas had Ebola travel restrictions.
The MD also stated that they are currently planning to launch a post Ebola programme for farmers called purchase for prosperity, which will bring together farmers and private sector partners to farm for business.
He lamented that Business was not good for the SLPMC last year but they however managed to export containers of palm oil to the United Kingdom and the United Nations office based in Kenya Nairobi. He added that there was little or no cash crops export for last year due to the Ebola.
Mr Kamara said SLMPC post Ebola activities will include Value addition of produce by making improvements on labelling, competiveness of the products and meeting the demands of the market.
He added that some famers are not aware of the standardised farming methods and “we will be working with our partners to improve competitiveness of our farming products with value additions for assurance meeting entry requirements.
So far he said SLPMC has been able to contribute to the sale of local produce in the markets as rice and palm oil is available in major supermarkets and grocery shops around the country and SLPMC Offices.
He said so far, customer demands for locally produced rice is still low in the market because it is far more expensive than imported rice.
In 2014 he said, some 256,000 metric tonnes of rice was imported into the country, which exceeded the amount of locally produced rice.
The Managing Director added that due to post harvest loses and poor quality of the processed grains, imported rice are cheaper and are of better quality than the locally produced rice.
He also said that the production capacity of most of the farmers is also very small because “we do not use mechanised farming despite the fact that our rice is liked in Guinea, Liberia and Senegal so we want to engage all actors to meet the market demands with value addition of our farming products.
He added that they are also working towards the purchase of rice and palm oil to be sold in the local market in case of any emanating shortage.
Farmers will record the lowest production this year due to the Ebola as many farmers were not able to farm because of lack of a labour force to work in the fields. The Ministry of Agriculture will also be launching a strategic grain reserve initiative and eating habits models.
Meanwhile despite the setback caused by the Ebola outbreak, the Managing Director of SLPMC says he remains resolute and optimistic in promoting local produce for export and also local consumption.
He said 2014 was a bad year for farming in the country, and sale of local produce was generally average.
Friday February 06, 2015