He made this disclosure during the national validation of the draft coffee and cocoa polices at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) conference hall in Freetown on Friday 31, May 2019.
Sarmu said the absence of a coffee scientists do have an effect in the coffee industry, citing that such factor was responsible for the low yield of production.
He said clear policies with properly defined direction will attract foreign and domestic investment, from the private as well as the public sectors.
The consultant said the objective of the policy document is to provide an analysis of existing coffee value chain in Sierra Leone and identify the potential of this value chain for social and economic development of the country.
The coffee consultant reiterated that productivity was extremely low in 2017 and it had been estimated at 375 kg per hectare, citing that in comparison, the global average is estimated at 950 kg per hectare in the sub region.
He said the draft validation report pointed that the coffee sector is weak and with no governance or administrative structures for farmers producing the product.
Sarmu said price mechanism can be devised through the telephone network as well as the internet in the future.
“The overall vision of this policy is to develop a sustainable and competitive coffee sector in Sierra Leone by 2030’’ he said.
The deputy Minister said coffee and cocoa production was a pride of this nation, adding that Sierra Leone is not among countries known for good coffee and cocoa beans production.
He said the ultimate aims of these policies are focusing on two priorities that of quality and trade, noting that in a bid would improve the foreign exchange in the country.
The Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sam King Brima, said polices would guide farmers in producing quality coffee and cocoa beans, citing that quality comes with a combination of factors dealing with research and farmers education.
He disclosed that MAF will be understudying from Ghana and Ivory Coast for the final inputs to the finalization of the document.
Imperest Administrator Boosting Agriculture and Food Security (BAFS), Jemillatu Stober said the BAFS project has three main objectives institutional capacity building, formulation of food security strategies and sector policies.
She said different factor affects these sectors, value added chain in the country, citing that over 50 percent of the country’s coffee and cocoa trees are aged and needed extensive rehabilitation.
Madam Stober said pests and diseases are one of the major challenges for low yield of coffee and cocoa production, pointing that cocoa and coffee specifically target the export market if properly manage could be an important source of income for rural farmers.
She said in 2017 the project hired consultants to undertake a feasibility studies on the preliminary value of these cash crops and realized that the sector was not structured despite its huge potential.
Madam Stober said the formulation of these documents would help the sector greatly to achieve its goals.
