Speech by Dr. Joseph M. Kargbo, PhD.
Director General at the First Retreat of SLARI held at
the Hotel Sahara in Makeni, Sierra Leone,
October 26 - 28, 2015
Mr. Chairman, Honorable Ministers, Hon.
I.B. Kargbo and Dr. Sheku Kamara,
Presidential Advisers to His Excellency
President Koroma, Her Worship the Mayor
of Makeni City, Madam Sonkari Kabba
Kamara, Our host Paramount Chief
Kasangha, Dr. Stevens, Deputy Governor of
Bank of Sierra Leone, Mr. Jesse Olu John,
President of the National Federation of
Farmers of Sierra Leone, Mr. Sulaiman
Sesay and WAAPP team, Staff of MAFFS and
other Government Officials, Private Sector
Representatives, Colleague Scientists,
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distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen - good
morning.
We are gathered here to deliberate on
ways of “Making SLARI a Better Research
Institution for 21st Century Sierra Leone”.
This is another step forward to fulfilling the
Mission of the Institute, i.e.
SLARI Mission Statement
• “To enhance sustainable productivity,
commercialization and competitiveness of
the agricultural sector through generation
and promotion of innovative agricultural
technologies and empowerment of
stakeholders”.
This is guided by SLARI’s Vision
• To see “Improved and sustainable broad-based
agricultural growth” (in the country).
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This brings to mind a couple of questions:
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What are the challenges to be
confronted?
What sacrifices are people willing to
make to transform the nation’s
agriculture sector?
What are the most appropriate
policies and programs to be adopted
in pursuit of these national
objectives? and
What is expected from our country’s
political leadership?
Basically, What do we have to work with?
And How can we get there (i.e. achieving
our mandate)?
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Let’s look at some basic information:
• Sierra Leone has a total of 5.4 million
hectares (ha) of arable land.
• Arable land account for ~ 74% of country’s
total land area.
• The vast majority (~ 80 %) of this land is on
the upland ecology.
• The remaining 20 percent is in diverse
lowland systems/ecological zones
comprising of the Inland Valley Swamps
(IVS), Mangrove Swamps, Bolilands, and
Riverain grasslands.
• Rice, Cassava and other commodities are
cultivated in practically all agro ecological
zones in the country both as mixed and sole
crop by farmers.
• The differences in ecological zones
necessitate different strategies with regard to
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value chain analyses of rice, cassava and
other commodities due to differences in
Production conditions, harvesting and storage
systems, processing and value addition, and
marketing.
• Only 36% of arable land is under cultivation.
Thus, Sierra Leone has huge potential for
economic growth via the agriculture sector.
• Average farm size: 2.7 ha
• Rice - the staple food, is grown by over 95%
of the farmers in the country.
• Rice is a priority food crop within the GoSL
food security strategy, and in the ‘Agenda
for Growth and Prosperity’.
• The climate of Sierra Leone is generally
favorable for rice production.
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Agricultural Research in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone has over a Century of agricultural
research and policy experience.
Let us have a brief historical perspective of this
long journey:
• Njala Experiment Station established in1910
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Agronomic research
• Rokupr Rice Research Station (1934)
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Mangrove and swamp rice
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It became the West African Rice
Research Institute in 1953
• Teko Veterinary Station was established in
1942 near Makeni.
• Livestock Station at Musaia, Kabala (1943)
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• Oil Palm Research Station at Njala became
the West African Institute for Oil Palm
Research in 1953
• Forestry Research Station at Bambawo
(1953)
• West African Fisheries Research Institute at
Kissy, Freetown established in 1953.
• ACRE Project later transformed to Institute
of Agricultural Research (IAR) was
established in the 1980s.
• National Agricultural Research
Coordinating Council (NARCC) established
in 1985 to coordinate research activities.
• Njala University and Univ. of Sierra Leone
also carried agricultural research
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• The Sierra Leone Agricultural Research
Institute (SLARI) was established in 2007
by an Act of Parliament.
Table . SLARI research program areas of focus and Research Centers
Research Program Area of Focus
Coordinating and Implementing Research Center
Root, Tuber and Grain Legume Crops
Program
Njala Agricultural Research Center
(NARC)
Cereal Crops Program
Rokupr Agricultural Research Center (RARC)
Horticultural Crops Program
Kabala Horticultural Crops Research Center (KHCRC)
Livestock Program
Teko Livestock Research Center (TLRC)
Fisheries Program
Freetown Fisheries Research Center (FFRC)
Forestry & Tree Crops Program
Kenema Forestry and Tree Crops Research Center
(KFTCRC)
Land, Water and Environment Program
Magbosi Land and Water Research Center (MLWRC)
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The Strategic Plan of SLARI is in line with the
national, regional and global development
perspectives, including:
 Comprehensive African Agricultural
Development Program (CAADP)
 West and Central African Council for
Agricultural Research and Development
(CORAF/WEGARD)
 Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
(FARA)
 Millennium (now Sustainable) Development
Goals
 Agenda for Prosperity
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION
At the National level, the Centre has strong
collaborative links with the Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS), Njala
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University, University of Sierra Leone, and NGOs
involved in Agricultural Research and Extension.
Internationally, SLARI has strong ties with
AfricaRice, the International Institute of Tropical
Agriculture (IITA), the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI), the International Crops Research
Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT),
CORAF/WECARD, JICA, IAEA, etc.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
The Government of Sierra Leone is the main
source of funds. For example: Agriculture
accounted for 1-3% of government
expenditures during the 1922-55 period
compared to 3-7% over the 1960-77 period.
Agriculture’s share improved to 7.5% of
total government expenditures in 2009. The
Maputo Declaration of 2003 adopted by
African leaders to boost the continent’s
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agricultural production required that African
governments should allocate at least 10% of
their annual budgets to the agriculture
sector.
There is now a consensus amongst African
Heads of State and general populace for
increased investment in Science, Technology
and Innovations to drive the development
Agenda in Africa. President Ernest Koroma has
accepted this call through the wide range of
development programs being implemented
across the country.
Recently, in the ‘Ministerial Consultative
Meeting on Strengthening Higher Education,
Science, Technology and Innovation in Africa’,
H.E. Professor Arthur P. Mutharika of Malawi
stated emphatically in front of his audience that
“Africa must improve its capacity to make use
of Science and Technology to enhance food
production and its competitiveness in the global
market place”.
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He noted that “It is the role of universities to
train the future workforce for the continent, to
undertake research and to ensure that generated
knowledge makes an impact on African
Societies”1
Through the Sierra Leone Government and the
Development partners, SLARI and its Centres
receive some funding and technological support
from AfricaRice, WAAPP, IITA and NGOs for
collaborative research Projects, CIDA, IAEA,
AU through FARA, and other agencies.
Importance of investment in agriculture
Research has shown us that every Le1.00
invested in the agriculture sector will generate
Le7.00 of income in the economy of Sierra
Leone.2
1
See The Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture”, October 22, 2015 at
http://blog.ruforum.org.
2
Kargbo, Joseph. (2011). Political Instability and Economic Recovery in Sierra Leone: Lessons in Applied
Econometrics, Modeling and Policy Making, The Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston, New York.
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See table of growth multipliers provided below.
Table . Simulation results for sectoral income shocks of Le1.00 in Sierra Leone
Simulation
experiment:
shock to
Growth
multiplier
Agriculture
Changes in sector
Agriculture
Manufacturing
Services
Mining
7.96
1.450
1.690
1.050
3.770
Manufacturing
8.68
1.590
1.860
1.150
4.080
Services
8.74
1.600
1.870
1.160
4.110
Mining
8.69
1.590
1.860
1.150
4.090
Source: Kargbo, Joseph. (2011).
Agricultural transformation is necessary to
maximize the growth linkages in the
economy. Basically, agricultural
transformation is a process that involves
changing from one structural stage to
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another. This reflects the Agricultural
Products Value Chain.
Through the long-run process of
structural transformation there is a net
resource transfer from agriculture to other
sectors of the economy. This leads to a
movement of the economy from subsistence
level household production towards an
integrated economy based on more
specialization, exchange and capturing of
economies of scale in the country. In effect,
this is the commercialization of agriculture
in the country.
Thus, there will be shifting of some
functions previously done on the farm to
off-farm sectors of the Sierra Leonean
economy.
The major implication of this process is
the declining real cost of food to consumers
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as operators and policy makers pay more
attention to facilitating both technical and
institutional changes in the off-farm
segments of the nation’s food system.
The failure to adequately invest in
agriculture and other segments of the food
system can stifle the process of structural
transformation, thereby, increasing food
insecurity in the country.
REFORMS:
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Management has received training on
Performance Management Systems
(PMS) and plans are in place to
cascade training to all SLARI staff.
More PMS training will be done
during this retreat.
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SLARI Act undergoing review with
recommendations for modification
where necessary.
Developed Procurement Procedures
Manual
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Developed a research Policy
Accounting Procedures Manual
Developed with stringent Financial
Management policies.
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With immediate effect, no researcher
is allowed to take funds from SLARI
and put them into their private
account.
All workers in SLARI must complete
an application form, and salary
payment to workers must be done
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ONLY by Finance Department NOT
the researcher.
STAFFING ISSUES
Appropriate Staff will be provided to
handle changes as we move forward.
Already, Management has recruited key
staff that will help SLARI achieve its
mandate.
We are requesting the Ministry of
Finance and Economic Development
(MoFED) to please allow SLARI to urgently
recruit more staff for incoming projects.
Ladies and gentlemen, SLARI has its
Strategic Plan (2012 – 2021), and we are
following it closely to the develop the
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institute. Of course, we will make
adjustments as conditions warrant.
THANK YOU
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