“Today’s youth are tomorrow’s family farmers, and maintaining interest in farming as a profession is vital to future food security.”
So says Joseph Kobba, program director for our partner Rural Youth Development Organization – Sierra Leone (RYDO-SL), our in-country partner working to train young Sierra Leoneans in best agricultural practices and provide them with the tools, seeds and materials they need to get off to a promising start.
With grant funding from Bread and Water for Africa®, made possible through the generosity of our supporters across the U.S. and beyond, this spring, our goal is to train a new cohort of 75 young trainees (45 female and 30 male) at a cost of $267 each in 15 communities in Bumpe Ngao Chiefdom, Bo District.
Joseph explained that in Sierra Leone and in other developing countries, youth make up roughly one-fifth of the population and face unemployment levels of up to nearly one-third and telling us, “The number of young people of working age is increasing while this same group typically rejects careers in the agriculture and food system.”
But Joseph has a vision that “We can change that and cultivate the next generation of agricultural leaders (no pun intended) – and not just farmers, but food entrepreneurs, scientists, agronomists, extension agents, union and government leaders.”
For the past four years, RYDO-SL has been collaborating with Bread and Water for Africa® to train and empower female and youth farmers to improve their livelihoods and to serve as an encouragement to youth considering pursuing farming but are uncertain if they’ll actually be able to feed their families with what they can grow on their small tracts of land.
With the next group of budding farmers just starting their training, during the six-month program they will learn best practices in all manner of farming starting with site selection, brushing, clearing and planting techniques, irrigation, the proper use of pesticides, the importance of crop rotation and appropriate methods for crop storage after harvest.
“These skills enable farmers to improve yields and protect their crops against weather related issues such as severe drought,” says Joseph. “The training and empowerment of target beneficiaries will enable them to make the requisite transformation from ‘subsistence farming’ to ‘farming as a business enterprise.’”
The primary concern for Joseph, who notes that “farming is the backbone of the local economy in Sierra Leone providing a source of livelihood to more than 90 percent of all households,” is that “However, many smallholders farm households can barely produce enough to feed their families due to lack of knowledge of farming practices.
“Farming is entirely dominated by traditional smallholders’ subsistence farm households,” says Joseph, adding, “farm yields are generally low due to the lack of farming skills.
“Most of the women and male youth farmers in Bumpe Ngao Chiefdom where RYDO-SL operates are unskilled.
“Most don’t have enough knowledge on farming practices, enterprise development, petty trading and related activities. “Some have skills, but their knowledge is traditional. Besides, they have no startup capital.”
He explained that farming in the target communities is “entirely based on mixed cropping and small ruminant production” with the average farm size is two acres.
In addition, the main source of farm labor is “human power” with hand tools as the principal tools for farm operations including land preparation, weeding and harvesting.
In sum, says Joseph, “The availability of farming training, tools and seeds will enable them to open up more land, prepare it and weed their crops resulting in increased farm production and in turn higher incomes and food security will enable them to better feed their children, pay for their education, provide for their health and enhance their livelihoods in the future.”
