SIERRA LEONE

Summary of SRI in Sierra Leone

SRI began in Sierra Leone when World Vision/Sierra Leone sent one of its agricultural staff to Madagascar in November 2000 to learn about SRI from Association Tefy Saina (see Sierra Leone report in Sanya conference proceedings). SRI has continued to gain traction in Sierra Leone in areas where rice is cultivated.

The West African Rice Company (WARC) was started in 2011 by two Argentinians who moved to Sierra Leone to build up the country’s commercial rice sector as a means of alleviating poverty. A video about Emiliano Mroue, one of WARC’s founders, is available on YouTube. In early 2013, WARC commissioned a study by Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) to evaluate and give recommendations for their nascent outgrower development model. (See SIPA report).

Information on SRI in Sierra Leone was presented at a Regional Workshop on System of Rice Intensification of (SRI), which was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on July 26 and 27, 2012. Sierra Leone was represented by Samuel Soki Harding, Daniel Santigie Fornah and Edward S. A. Kargbo at the workshop, which was organized by the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD), the National Center of Specialization for Rice (WAAPP Mali) and SRI-Rice (Cornell University) within the framework of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP); Oxfam America sponsored participation for civil society representatives.

In March 2013, Gerald Aruna, Country Director for the Italian NGO ENGIM International, started the Swamp Development Project as a mixed rice and vegetable production system, using SRI rice followed by vegetables in an inland valley swamp system. Aruna has also been involved in providing Farmer Field School-based trainings for extension workers, farmers and CRS staff as the NGO incorporates SRI into their rice value chain work (Integrating Savings and Agricultural Development II) in the Kailahun and Koinadugu Districts, and with the Centre for the Coordination of Youth Activity (CCYA) in the Bombali District. Aruna also authored a CRS training manual for facilitators which was used for the trainings.

According to a World Bank article, about 10,865 Sierra Leone farmers had adopted the SRI as of June 2014. SRI adoption increased in the as the project Improving and Scaling up the System of Rice Intensification in West Africa, which formally began in January 2014, gained momentum. The SRI-WAAPP map, which is current as of 2016, shows over 40 sites where farmers have received training. A 2016 article highlights the success of SRI-WAAPP in Sierra Leone.

During the 2015 Ebola crisis, Gerald Aruna reported that SRI promotion efforts had to be adjusted to give priority to national and local efforts to stem the spread of the Ebola virus. In some of the communities with which he has been working on SRI demonstrations had been very seriously affected by the spread of the disease. Gerald and associates have been providing medical supplies and personal protective equipment with support from Italian Cooperation funds. Social mobilization campaigns to contain the virus have been carried out in 40 communities, holding focus group discussions for community members of all ages and giving them Ebola virus disease (EVD) education.

Videos of SRI in Sierra Leone can be found on YouTube SRI-Rice channel Africa playlist and the Flooded Cellar Productions System of Rice Intensification playlist, which includes a video of Gerald Aruna. During 2016, Gerald Aruna adapted SRI methods for growing the leafy krain krain vegetable. (See article on the System of Krain Krain Intensification, SKKI). During 2017, he obtained support for an SRI project in six communities (see details).

A 2017 Agronomie Africaine article assessing SRI in the Mangrove Associated Swamps (MAS) showed enriched basic SRI gave an average yield three times greater than the average yield obtained with current farmer practices (6.2 and 2.0 t/ha) and was most economical.

Progress and Activities

2017 Updates
  • arrow Evaluations in the Mangrove Associated Swamps Assess Suitability and Profitability of SRI[November 25, 2017] An article by Harding et al published in the journal Agronomie Africaine assesses SRI and conventional rice production methods on farmers’ fields in locations in five districts of the Mangrove Associated Swamps (MAS) in Sierra Leone. The study was undertaken to determine SRI’s effectiveness in increasing rice productivity and to assess the cost-benefit of the system. Three production practices involving conventional method, basic SRI and enriched basic SRI were evaluated. The enriched basic SRI gave an average yield that was actually three times greater than the average yield obtained with current farmer practices (6.2 and 2.0 t/ha). The basic SRI without any organic matter raised paddy yields by 60% over conventional methods, (3.2 and 2.0 t/ha, respectively). The number of tillers and panicles per square meter, the number of panicle per tiller, the number of grain per panicle and thousand-grain weight was highest for the enriched basic SRI. The economic analysis shows that shifting from conventional practice and basic to the enriched basic SRI practices is economical and rewarding. [See complete article for details: Assessing the suitability and profitability of the system of rice intensification (SRI) methodology under farmers’ circumstances in Sierra Leone.]
  • arrow SRI Project Implemented in Six Communities In Sierra Leone[June 30, 2017] Gerald Aruna, Country Director at ENGIM Internazionale – Sierra Leone, reports success in obtaining funding from Italy for an SRI project for six communities of Sierra Leone that will begin in July 2017. Major partners in the implementation will be the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Food Security ( MAFFS) in Portloko District and St. Joseph Vocational Institute (SJVI) Lunsar. The expected results of this one-year project include: 480 farmers trained in SRI method of rice cultivation (80 per community); a technical vocational school; a SRI manual for schools; innovative practices for nursery management, transplanting, cultivation, seed multiplication, and crop intensification introduced and acquired – with increased production by 30-50%; fifteen ha swamp area developed; three warehouses built and equipped with the necessary equipment for processing of agricultural products rice milling machine (with 50% reduction in post-harvest food losses); four water wells built with improved access to beneficiaries; 200 women trained in Moringa cultivation and utilization; four drying floors constructed for drying of farm products (with 25% reduction in drying time; and four fields agents trained. The project will be implemented in communities where ENGIM supports SILC (Savings and Internal Lending Community) groups actively working on agricultural income generating activities.
2016
  • arrow Krain Krain Leafy Vegetable Grown with System of Crop Intensification (SCI) Methods[December 7, 2016] Gerald Aruna, ENGIM Internazionale, has modified the traditional planting method for the local krain krain leafy vegetable (Cochorus Olitorius) to use System of Crop Intensification (SCI) methods. Called “SKKI” (System of Krain Krain Intensification), the modifications use: Less seeds, more organic matter, wide spacing between plants, transplanting of young seedlings between 8 to 15 days old, and overhead mulching (see photo at left). The crop is harvested twice, the first time by cutting / pruning branches of the plant at a point which leaves at least two other branches for fast re-growth and for collecting seeds at the end, so farmers can replant with their own seed. Weeding / earthing up / soil aeration of the crop is done every 7 days. This promotes robust root and plant growth and results in robust leaves as well as very big pods of seeds at the end to be harvested. [See details.] 
  • arrow Gerald Aruna Presents SRI Experiences in Sierra Leone at Cornell University Seminar[September 13, 2016] Gerald Aruna, Sierra Leone Country Director of the Italian NGO ENGIM Internazionale, presented a seminar entitled Introducing the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) to Resource-Limited Farmer in Sierra Leone, at Cornell University on September 12, 2016. Aruna, who is also a vocational agriculture instructor and a practicing farmer based in Lunsar in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone, relayed his insights on experimenting with SRI since 2002 and promoting the methods to surrounding communities beginning in 2006. (See PowerPoint presentation).
  • arrow World Bank gives SRI-WAAPP Highest Rating as SRI sites Expand in Sierra Leone 

    [May 30, 2016] The project on Improving and Scaling up the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in West Africa (SRI-WAAPP) has had continued success promoting the introduction, adaptation and scaling up of SRI in Sierra Leone since January 2014. SRI continues to expand in the areas of Sierra Leone where rice is cultivated, as can be seen in the SRI-WAAPP Sierra Leone site map to the right. The map, which is current as of 2016, shows over 40 sites where farmers have received training in SRI since the project formally began in 2014. A recent article on the Awoko website highlights the success of SRI-WAAPP in Sierra Leone, which received the highest rating provided by the World Bank.

2015
  • arrow Gerald Aruna and Mendesora United Featured in SRI Videos[May 10, 2015] SRI-Rice has collaborated with Flooded Cellar Productions to produce two films on rainfed SRI in Sierra Leone: SRI in Sierra Leone – Mendesora United, a 13:10 min. video on the adoption of SRI in Mendesora village in northern Sierra Leone. A second , video, SRI in Sierra Leone – Gerald Aruna tells the story of Gerald Aruna, one of the earliest adopters of SRI in Sierra Leone. Both videos are available on YouTube SRI-Rice channel Africa playlist and the Flooded Cellar Productions System of Rice Intensification playlist.
  • arrow SRI Work Continues in Sierra Leone Despite Spread of EbolaEbola Campaign3
    Ebola campaign1[January 28, 2015] Gerald Aruna (second from left in photo at left), who has been an SRI promoter in the Northern Province for almost a decade, serves as the country director for the Italian NGO ENGIM Internazionale, working in the province from the Vocational Center of the St. Joseph Fathers in Lunsar. He reported that SRI promotion efforts had to be adjusted to give priority to national and local efforts to stem the spread of the Ebola virus. In some of the communities with which he has been working on SRI demonstrations had been very seriously affected by the spread of the disease. In one community, Petifu Bana, in Buya Romende chiefdom in the Port Loko District, 67 people died and there were 22 survivors who came back from the Ebola treatment center.Gerald and associates have been providing medical supplies and personal protective equipment with support from Italian Cooperation funds. Social mobilization campaigns to contain the virus have been carried out in 40 communities, holding focus group discussions for community members of all ages and giving them Ebola virus disease (EVD) education. Gerald, who has been visiting new communities Ebola campaign -Womenalmost daily, says that where this education has been conducted, there have not been new cases of the disease. He writes that he has remained healthy and that, despite the EVD, preparations are being made to engage more communities this year in the expanding SRI campaign. (Click on pictures at left and right to see enlarged photos of the EVD social mobilization efforts.)

     

2013-2014 Updates
  • arrow SRI Adoption Increases as World Bank Project Scales Up SRI[June 20, 2014] According to a June 19 World Bank article, about 10,865 Sierra Leone farmers have now adopted the SRI. SRI adoption is expected to increase in the coming years as the project Improving and Scaling up the System of Rice Intensification in West Africa gains momentum. The project is the first phase of a regional World Bank-financed project to increase rice productivity throughout a 13-country Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) area. The three year project, which includes Sierra Leone, is part of the larger West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP).
  • arrow Several Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Projects Integrate SRI Successfully[January 30, 2014] In March 2013, Gerald Aruna, Country Director for the Italian NGO ENGIM International, started the Swamp Development Project as a mixed rice and vegetable production system, using SRI rice followed by vegetables in an inland valley swamp system. Community members are being trained in surveying, SRI rice cultivation, and vegetable cultivation, while the project has also Sierra Leone CRS SRI manualbrought a community tool bank into existence. The 27 participating community members (17 men and 10 women) are part of a CRS-trained ‘Savings and Internal Lending Community group’. Yields were being calculated as of January 2014 from their first season of trials.
  • Aruna has also been involved in providing Farmer Field School-based trainings for extension workers, farmers and CRS staff as the NGO incorporates SRI into their rice value chain work (Integrating Savings and Agricultural Development II) in the Kailahun and Koinadugu Districts, and with the Centre for the Coordination of Youth Activity (CCYA) in the Bombali District. The trainings took place at farmers’ fields in Mendesora, and resulted in the publication of an SRI manual and a trainer guide by CRS, and the fabrication of six Mandava weeders. Aruna also authored a CRS training manual for facilitators which was used for the trainings.
  • arrow West African Rice Company (WARC) Integrates SRI into its Business Model[January 30, 2014] The WARC was started in 2011 by two Argentinians who moved to Sierra Leone to build up the country’s commercial rice sector as a means of alleviating poverty and reducing some of the damages inflicted from the civil war. Using modern technology and SRI, WARC works across the spectrum of rice farmers, including smallholder farmers, farmer cooperatives, and large-scale commercial farmers, providing trainings, technical assistance and loans for purchasing equipment to each actor in the value chain. As the value chain is strengthened Sierra Leone will be able to more effectively compete with low-cost rice imported from Southeast Asia. A video about Emiliano Mroue, one of WARC’s founders, is available on YouTube. Directly below are photos of WARC taken by Erika Styger during her 2012 visit.

    In early 2013, the WARC commissioned a study by Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) to evaluate and give recommendations for their nascent outgrower development model. This approach is a key aspect of WARC’s business and development models, whereby small-scale and large-scale farmers alike are integrated into the local rice value chain. (See SIPA report).

    Daniel Saidu, chief agronomist for WARC, was trained in SRI in 2012, and in the Spring of 2013 traveled to Benin as a co-trainer for a regional West Africa SRI training for Peace Corps volunteers and staff, and counterparts working with the Peace Corps from Benin, the Gambia, and Senegal. In December 2013, Daniel acted again as trainer– this time for the first national SRI training in Liberia, hosted by the Community of Hope Agriculture Project (CHAP) and sponsored by the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP).

2012
  • arrowSRI Progress in Sierra Leone Noted at 2012 West Africa SRI Workshop in Burkina Faso[July 30, 2012] Information on SRI in Sierra Leone was presented at a Regional Workshop on System of Rice Intensification of (SRI), which was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on July 26 and 27, 2012. Sierra Leone was represented by Samuel Soki Harding, Daniel Santigie Fornah and Edward S. A. Kargbo at the workshop, which was organized by the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD), the National Center of Specialization for Rice (WAAPP Mali) and SRI-Rice (Cornell University) within the framework of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP); Oxfam America sponsored participation for civil society representatives.The delegation from Sierra Leone reported in a PowerPoint presentation that detailed trials had been carried out in inland valley swamp areas of southern and eastern Sierra Leone in 2008. SRI methods were compared with currently-recommended practices and farmer practices. The results were as follows:
    SRI Practices Recommended Practices Farmer Practices
    Yield (tons/ha 3.246 2.959 2.348
    Gross revenue (000 Leones/ha) 4,870 4,438 3,523
    Cost of production (000 Leones/ha)   720   870   800
    Net income/ha (000 Leones) 4,150 3,568 2,723

    SRI yield was 38% more than farmer practice, and 10% more than recommended practices; but because costs of production were lower (by 20%), net income/ha with SRI management was 53% higher than farmer practice and 17% higher than recommended practices.

2000-2006
  • arrow Mapity Farming EnterpriseIn 2002, Gerald Aruna, currently Country Director for the Italian NGO ENGIM International, began testing SRI in Buya Romended, Port Loko District, after receiving a copy of Teach yourself and others SRI from a Josephine priest. After several years of trials, including setbacks, Mr. Aruna’s experience with SRI took a turn for the better when he received a cono weeder through CRS and the Niala School of Agric Technology, allowing him to tackle one of the primary obstacles to SRI adoption. In addition to his responsibilities with ENGIM International, Mr. Aruna farms his own 2 ha plot in Mabethor, Port Loko District, with SRI-grown rice in addition to raising poultry, pigs and goats, and teaches agriculture at the St. Joseph Vocational Institute.
  • arrow World Vision SRI Trials Show Promise for Sierra Leone FarmersWorld Vision/Sierra Leone sent one of its agricultural staff to Madagascar in November 2000 to learn about SRI from Association Tefy Saina (see Sierra Leone report in Sanya conference proceedings). Upon his return to Sierra Leone, he trained World Vision staff on SRI, and they in turn informed villagers about it. From among volunteer villages, eight were chosen for the first trials, with 20 farmers from each village participating. The results were an average of 5.3 t/ha with SRI methods compared to 2.5 t/ha with their standard methods.seedbed in Sierra LeoneAfter the initial evaluations in 2001 and 2002, World Vision has been expanding its dissemination of SRI with support from USAID. A February 6, 2004, article in the Sierra Leone section of the USAID website describes how farmers are getting 55-60 bushels of harvest from 6 kg of seed when planted and raised with SRI methods, starting with 10-day-old seedlings. (The protected seedbed is shown at right). Encouraged by positive farmer responses, other NGOs are taking up SRI dissemination in cooperation with World Vision and USAID.

    Getting farmers to grow lowland rice rather than practice upland shifting cultivation has not been not easy, but the environmental damage to the uplands is affecting whole ecosystems and is important to stop, as well as to meet people’s food security needs. Some SRI farmers are able to harvest 12 bushels of rice where they got 2 bushels before. Also, they are intensifying their production systems with vegetable rotations that improve the soil as well as diversify their diets.

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