Abass Sesay, AYV News, October 17, 2024
Sierra Leone used to be covered largely by forest. However, unchecked human activities like detestation, logging, construction and more have seriously affected this feature right across the country, according to environmental reports.
As a result of this environmental factor, climate change effects have started looming in the country affecting almost every sector of development in the country. One key sector which has been affected over the years by environmental degradation or damage is agriculture. Farmers across Sierra Leone have been experiencing crop failure due to extreme hot weathers, flooding, erratic rain patterns and among others.
In an effort to scale down these challenges for farmers in the country, Lift Above Poverty – LAPO for short is currently rolling out a project supporting farmers to plant various types of trees on their farmlands. As the project is part of the organization’s strides towards environmental protection, LAPO has provided hundreds of trees to farmers in Port Loko, Kambia and Moyamba districts.
Giving an over view of this project, Solomon George – Sustainability Officer at LAPO described the tree planting exercise as an ecofriendly initiative that aims to boost biodiversity and promote environmental sustainability in communities. He went on to say that, beneficiaries of this project are clients of LAPO Microfinance; and they have been part of the loan scheme the institution is providing for farmers over the years. He stated that, the institution provided approximately 1,000 trees including economic trees like cocoa, guava, cashew and others. Mr. George went further to explain that, the tree planting exercise is not only a climate change mitigation strategy but also a corporate social responsibility especially in their operational communities. He added that, the ongoing tree planting exercise is a pilot phase and there are plans to expand it in other districts across Sierra Leone. He therefore entreated farmers to maintain these crops as they have economic, social and environmental benefits.
Ya. Alimamy Haja Sesay a master farmers in Port Loko Distrfict confirmed that, they have been hardly hit over the time by weather conditions like erratic rainfall, heat waves and flooding. According to her, these bad weather conditions are largely associated with climate change. With the ongoing project rolled out by LAPO, she is optimistic that, it would help to reduce some of these effects – as tree planting can help to enhance environmental sustainability. Ya. Alimamy also mentioned that, LAPO has supported many farmers – especially women in the districts with loan facility as well as seeds.
Abdul Karim Kamara in Kambia District confirmed that, they have planted 632 economic trees of different varieties by the community primary school. The reason to plant these trees close to the school according to him is to provide fruits for children – as most of the economic trees in the community have been cut off for either charcoal harvesting or timber trade.
A farmer in Moyamba District – Joseph Sam Oldman shared his experience while growing up in his community. He explained that, their environs used to be covered with large forest. But uncontrolled human activities like bush burning, deforestation etc. have destroyed their forest drastically. With this project, Mr. Oldman is hopeful to regain their forest in few years’ time. He thanked LAPO for supporting them with loans which according to him have contributed immensely to commercial farming in their community.
