Grantee beneficiaries implementing programs under SCADeP’s Agribusiness Services Matching Grant and the Sierra Leone Agribusiness Development Fund are being trained on Standard Operating Procedures Manual, Post Harvest Management and Value chain specific models and benefits Sharing Schemes at the Sahara Hotel in Makeni.

The training which targets grantees from the value chains of rice, poultry, maize and onions is meant to fill the gaps emanating from various intervention supports that has been given to these grantees by SCADeP.

Such supports which included the construction of value addition processing centres such as drying floors, WASH facilities and machineries has resulted into issues such as machinery operational competency needs, need for observation of standard environmental safeguard practices, improvement of productive capacities and more.

Speaking on the objective of the training, Grant Manager for SCADeP Dr. Henry Yamba Kamara noted three reasons for the training from a project standpoint. He said manuals had been developed on how grantees can best utilise machines provided by the project which grantees needed to fully be acquainted with and secondly, there was need for grantees to fully be trained on value addition on post-harvest and thirdly that SCADeP as a project wants sharing of profits by producer organization be fully understood and be done in ways that enhance fairness, equity and mutual benefits be realised.

 

He went on to state that it is highly necessary for risks to be minimised in such a way that private capital investors would be confident and willing to invest in the various businesses of the grantees. The other objectives include grantees being fully educated on techniques to maintain quality of harvested crops and products,ensuring they meet market standards and also get them fully understand sharing mechanisms such as cooperative models and profit sharing agreements to ensure that gains from post – harvest activities and standard operating procedures are equitably distributed amongst stakeholders. The Director of crops of Bombali Mr. Lahai Bangura commended SCADeP for the tremendous work it has been doing with farmers and encouraged grantees to maximise information disseminated through the course of the training.

Giving his keynote, the Bombali District Agricultural Officer (DAO) Mr. Andrew Manasaray said that the training is a big step towards agricultural advancement and central to the ‘Feed Salon’ agricultural flagship program to be soon launched by His Excellency the president and the Ministry of Agriculture.