MAFS and International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) held an inception meeting this morning at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Freetown to promote soil health as a sustainable approach to reducing production costs and increasing productivity for smallholder farmers in Sierra Leone. The initiative stems from a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between IITA and the Food Systems Resilience Program (FSRP). Through this MoU, IITA will upgrade the Soil Digital Hub developed by SLARI and Njala University with support from FSRP funding. The collaboration will also provide capacity building for researchers, extension officers, and FSRP-funded fertilizer laboratory technicians.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Dr Henry Musa Kpaka commended FSRP for addressing the long-standing challenge of blanket fertilizer application by farmers. He noted that, under the MoU, IITA will integrate artificial intelligence and big data analytics to generate site-specific fertilizer recommendations. This approach is expected to reduce production costs, increase yields, and ultimately improve farmers’ incomes.
The FSRP Project Manager, Kepifri Lakoh encouraged stakeholders to consider government-led arrangements to ensure sustainability of the initiative beyond the lifespan of FSRP funding.
In attendance are: the Deputy Minister I of Agriculture Dr Theresa Tenneh Dick, Chief Agriculture Officer Professor Abdulai Jalloh, IITA researchers, SLARI Researchers, FSRP staff and other key stakeholders