Sierra Leone IPM project 02: Rural women vegetable project

Project Duration: One year (2004-2005)

Purpose of the project: The objective is to assist the groups with vegetable and other crop seeds, fertilizers, tools to increase food crop production in order to improve their incomes and diets.

Background/description: The Freetown Peninsular Mountains has a large area of inland valley swamps (IVS) cultivated by the local community. The IVS is used for rain fed rice during the rainy season (May to October) and vegetables during the  dry season (November to April). Vegetables are also grown on terraces adjacent to the swamps during the dry season. Women in the communities are generally poor with farming as their main livelihood. The level and method of production do not sustain them for long. They lack adequate improved vegetable seeds and fertilizers. WIAN therefore organized them into groups to enable them access improved and sufficient production inputs and methods to increase their level of production and income.

Agro-ecological zone(s) and location(s): Western area, York Peninsular District, Ogoo Farm, Sierra Leone

Expected outputs:  1) Well managed vegetable, maize and groundnut plots established by beneficiary groups, 2) Food and crop production increased in the community, 3) A marketing system for vegetable established for each group.

Potential impact and beneficiaries: 1) The project will directly benefit 10 women groups, 5 each from the Mountain and York Rural districts respectively. These groups were organized by women in agriculture and nutrition unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS). 2) Women selected from 17 women groups (120 adult women assisted by their families) in the Mountain and York Rural Districts established in 2000 to produce food crops and vegetables for household consumption and income generation, 3) Other members of the community will also benefit from the project through gifts or purchase of produce from the project

Partners: NGOs, SPFS

Development investor(s): FAO.

Project contact person(s)/principal investigator(s): Dr. Cyril Lahai, FAO Sierra Leone, FAO-SLE@field.fao.org,  Freetown, Sierra Leone