October 9, 2018
By Ibrahim Tarawallie
A nongovernmental organisation, Solidaridad, is currently implementing two projects aimed at improving the production of cocoa and palm oil in Sierra Leone.
The successful implementation of phase two of the Sustainable West African Palm Oil Programme (SWAPP) and the Cocoa Rehabilitation and Intensification Programme (CORIP) projects will help contribute towards the sustainable increase in efficiency and productivity both at primary production and processing levels.
The projects are targeting those in the business of oil palm and cocoa production in Ghana, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone and will run until 2021.
It is no secret that Sierra Leone has fertile soil to cultivate high quality agricultural produce, but the collaboration and equipment have been the bane to fully utilise such potential.
The organisation succeeded in upgrading land governance issues to international standards in eight chiefdoms in the south of the country during phase one of the projects.
During an engagement with newsmen, Senior Programmes Officer Andrew Kojo Morrison said the overall aim of the second phase of the programme was to scale up the sustainable improvement models which have been proven to be effective from rural service centres, as well as large scale adoption of the sustainable intensification of cocoa production.
He noted the programmes would increase the quality and the ton of cocoa the country produces per annum and also modernise the way palm oil is being processed in Sierra Leone.
“The strategy under SWAPP II is centred in the large scale adoption of the sustainable intensification of oil palm cultivation and processing in the West African SME sector. This will be pursued by improving SME access to finance and technical support for two complementary business cases,” he said.