This as an agriculturist, Mr. Kella noted needs to be demonstrated by SLARI, as they are the hub for research exercise in the country, but that he added has not been demonstrated in anyway by SLARI for farmers to follow suit.
IFAD he stated has been supportive to farming activities as well as SLARI’s operation for a well over seven years with infrastructural support and the provision of irrigation facilities, and that he added was all with the intention that with or without government supports or funding, the institute must be in a right footing to bring about technologies from which farmers can earn income and be in a better position to continuously support the smooth running of their activities, but however that has not been something to write home about, Mr. Kella commented.
Most recently, Mr. Kella said they supported a project that is worth over a Hundred Thousand Dollars for the Institute to embark on adverse plantation, and that which would also cover all labor expenses, and at the end of every planting season would bring about good yield for a more sustainable and continuous agricultural process.
Mr. Kella noted that research Institute in other countries has their commercial wing that does generate income for them, and SLARI He admonished must not be an exception to that trade.
However, the Minister of Agriculture Forestry and Food Security, Professor Patrick Monty Jones has also stressed the need for SLARI to deeply take into consideration the advice given to them by IFAD’s Project Coordinator, as that system he reiterated is being made use of by most countries, and that of which he added earn Ivory Coast about 60% of their research running costs, as they produce wine and other beverages from their research institute.
SLARI requires a visit to Ivory Coast, as those technologies needs to be replicated in Sierra Leone, the Minister stated.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Director General, Sierra Leone Agricultural Research Institute Mathew L.S. Gaboku has stated that the concerns raised by the IFAD Project Coordinator is something that they had before now wanting to embark on, but the auditors he stressed head most times restricted their operation in that direction, but however solution he assures would be amicable arrived at.
