Explore Official Dialogue Feedback

Topic: Climate/Environmental Extremes and Economic Shocks Actions that are urgently needed: 1. In the event of shocks that affect smallholder farmers, government and partners should establish seed banks to support smallholder farmers to revive their faming activities. The seed banks will also prevent the extinction of specific crop varieties and certain species of animals. 2. Afforestation and agro forestry farming system intensified 3. Establishment of affordable irrigation system for all chiefdoms 4. Government subsidies for SMEs for recovery from economic shocks 5. Establish the green belt ... Read moreand enforce it, institute urban planning in the context of the current design of our cities 6. Use our higher learning institutions to research and generate credible and sustainable solutions 7. Construction of drainages and canals, fire belts) and community dialogue programmes. 8. Set-up of emergency response team, construction of stock house, strong measures to stop people from habiting in disaster prone area. 9. Strengthen and capacitate Fire Force Department to reduce time for quick response to fire incidents by fire force. 10. Institute a strong monitoring mechanism to discourage youths from mining sand in prohibited areas along the coastline. 11. Training of local CSO’s on environmental hazards and its mitigation and provision of logistical and other support to local to conduct sensitization 12. Replant mangrove trees in areas where they have been cut down. 13. Introduce disaster management modules into our learning institutions 14. Government to transform all mining pits into aquarium at community and chiefdom level 15. Relocation of houses /slums constructed on canals, wetlands, reserve forest to safer areas or environmentally friendly areas. 16. Enforcement of the Housing and Environment policies by developing concrete policy implementation plans, which can be reviewed from time to time. Who should take these actions? Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of trade, EPA, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Local Government, NRA, Office of national Security, Local Councils, Ministry of lands, Traditional and local Leaders. NGO’s, CSO and Private sectors. Ways in which progress could be assessed: 1. Decreased in deforestation, increase in agricultural production year-round. 2. Reduction in the occurrence of natural disasters and fire hazard 3. Increase in beaches along the peninsula to illegal sand mining along the peninsula in Western Area Read less

Topic: Conflict and Instability Actions that are urgently needed: 1. Animal settlement policy to address disunity that is existing among cattle owners and crop famers. 2. All paramount chiefs to formulate byelaws and implement them for animal settlement. 3. Government to review the land tenure system as land issue often leads to conflict in communities. Who should take these actions? Ministry of lands, law officers’ department, Ministry of Local Government and Ministry of Agriculture Ways in which progress could be assessed: 1. Conflict reduced among farmers 2. Peaceful communities and progr... Read moreess towards sustainable development goals for 2030. Read less

Topic: Policy Development, Enforcement, and Coordination Actions that are urgently needed: 1. Total inclusion of women in policy formulation and implementation along the food system chain and linkages. 2. Animal settlement policy will address the community disputes that emerge because of destruction of farmers’ crops by grazing animals in rural communities. 3. Enforce the local content policy on deforestation through regular monitoring and supervision of the agreement on the policy, and tree planting nationwide. 4. Enactment and enforcement of byelaws on environmental protection. 5. Enforcem... Read moreent of the Housing and Environment policies by developing concrete policy implementation plans, which can reviewed from time to time. 6. Monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of policies and actions for household nutrition and food security. 7. Establishment of SUN Secretariat at District or Regional level with increased support for effective coordination of food systems actors. 8. Anti-corruption to be a key driver at every level of the food chain and linkages for a sustainable food system. 9. Coordination of relevant stakeholders in support of relevant policies and actions relating to food production 10. All outdated policies that can support food systems strengthening should be reviewed and popularized for proper implementation by the appropriate sectors. 11. Establishment of an effective system for price control and standardization of units of measures of local foods. 12. Institution of an effective monitoring system for prices, unit of measures and expired food commodities in shops and markets. This will required adequate human resource to be deployed throughout the country. Who should take these actions? Ministry of lands, Law officers’ department and Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Local Government, Standards Bureau, Ministry of Health and Sanitation Ways in which progress could be assessed: 1. Effective coordination mechanism in place along the food system 2. Food systems policies in place and implemented to support sustainable food security for all. Read less

Topic: Access to Finance Actions that are urgently needed: 1. Provision of credit/insurance facilities and review of interest rates for farming. 2. Address gender discrimination in accessing agricultural loans 3. Reduce administrative bottlenecks (Too many procedures and bureaucracy with extra cost by FSA/ Community banks) that frustrates farmers who need financial loans as agricultural activities are time bound. 4. Government Commercial banks should have a desk purposely for Agricultural credit facilities to recognize farmers. Loans should be given within two weeks of application and the repa... Read moreyment process should start at least after the second crop harvest. 5. Improve access to government subsidy, grants, and farmer support initiative. 6. Provision of soft loans to processors by financial institutions especially community banks. 7. Revision of collaterals for agricultural Loans and include guarantors for smallholder farmers who may not have collaterals. Who should take these actions? Ministry of finance and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Financial institutions, Bank of Sierra Leone, and IFAD Ways in which progress could be assessed: 1. Conducting feedback session or follow up session after three cropping sessions 2. Percentage increase in diversified food availability Read less

Topic: Food Waste Management Actions that are urgently needed: 1. Construction of facilities and recruit waste recycling trainers 2. Identify youths for waste recycling as a livelihood measure 3. Recruitment of garbage collector and provision of protective gears to enhance their safety 4. Make available garbage bags for household use and garbage collection. 5. Procurement and supply of adequate dumper trucks to meet the needs of cities 6. Create appropriate waste dumping sites in every city. 7. Formulation of appropriate policies and laws and close monitoring of the implementation of those bye... Read morelaws. 8. Using peels of cassava or vegetables as compost manure and using the waste as animal feeds and or mushroom cultivation e.g., cassava peels, rice brown, saw dust Who should take these actions? MoHS, Local councils, NGOs, and CBOs, NaCSA, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ministry of Agriculture Ways in which progress could be assessed: 1. Reduction in the incidence of malaria and diarrhoea among children under the age of five years 2. Cleaner cities and communities 3. Reduction in seasonal flooding Read less

Topic: Consumption and Utilization Actions that are urgently needed: 1. To address the problem of food waste and low food consumption diversity: Government should ensure availability, accessibility, and affordability of sustainable electricity supply particularly in urban areas. 2. Increase taxes on imported agricultural and nutritional products and establish women led enterprises with support for production local nutritious crops with reduce taxes to encourage consumption of healthy foods over inferior foods that flood the market. 3. Formation of food banks and engage line MDA’s, Food insti... Read moretutions, restaurants, hotels, and supermarkets on the idea of a food bank especially of perishable foods. Form a system or organization to collect donations and distributions to agencies or individuals in need. 4. Processing of left-over foods to serve as manure for animals and plant 5. Support training of women of childbearing age and care takers on appropriate feeding practices of young children and good maternal nutrition. 6. Households establish backyard gardening or urban agriculture for those in big cities for diversified food crops for households’ consumption. 7. Popularize Food based dietary guidelines for healthy eating in communities through radio discussions. Airing of Jingles. Organizing focus group discussions to get information on what is known and sensitize communities on benefits of diversified food production and consumption. 8. Promotion of food safety guidelines among all food businesses in the country. 9. Provision of improved storage facilities and manufacturing of key local foods for improved preservation. 10. Health system strengthening can assist in improving the health status especially of women and children under the age of five years. 11. Increase safety net programmes such as the national school feeding programme to target primary schools in the country and Food vouchers for extremely poor households. 12. Promotion of family services to especially poor rural households that have large family sizes. 13. There should be a multi-sectoral approach including establishment and support of all nutrition security networks. 14. Collaborate with relevant Ministry Department Agencies (MDAs) on how to ensure food consumption and utilization through the Scaling up Nutrition secretariat. 15. Provide potable water in every community and local authorities should make byelaws of water management to avoid pollution of rivers and streams. Institution of water user committees and train consumers on the storage of water to avoid contamination. 16. Placement of farm gates at appropriate centres and construct appropriate composts for the disposal of wastes. 17. Monitor the quality of foods sold at the farm gates Who should take these actions? Ministry of finance and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Health and Sanitation, NGOs, and CBOs Ways in which progress could be assessed: 1. Percentage decrease in malnutrition. Increased awareness and practice in healthy eating 2. Reduction in Non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Read less

Topic: Marketing and Distribution Actions that are urgently needed: 1. Government to increase subsidizing for fuel pump to reduce cost of local foods. 2. Constructions of roads especially roads connecting districts and those leading to farm gates. 3. Increase purchase/provision of transport vehicles specifically for farm produce. 4. Provision of appropriate vehicles to transport fresh and perishable foods. 5. Provide appropriate stores for the storage and preservation of foods for sale. 6. Provision of storage facilities in markets and transport facilities at all levels by building of market a... Read morend storage structures/outlets. 7. Provision of adequate and appropriate food markets with stores and appropriate cold rooms for frozen foods. 8. Discourage importation of inferior agricultural and nutritional products and encourage homemade foods by supporting large and small and medium enterprises. 9. Establishment of market information system to enhance fair trade of agricultural produce especially for smallholder farmers. Who should take these actions? Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of trade, SLRA, NaCSA, Private sector, Ways in which progress could be assessed: 1. Percentage decrease in the cost of marketing and distributing produce. 2. Availability of variety of locally produced food/products as well as imported food products in markets throughout the country. Read less

Topic: Processing Actions that are urgently needed: 1. Create and enabling environment (access to loans, reduced taxes) to processing companies/ individuals. 2. Assessment to map private sector players interested and provide loan facilities to them to construct and manage the storage facilities 3. Provide adequate knowledge by training processor on the preservation techniques of crop types and construction/ rehabilitation of storage facilities based on crop type and food zones. Provide facilities that promote appropriate processing and preservation of foods. 4. Provide affordable and gender fr... Read moreiendly processing tools and equipment by granting duty waiver to agricultural processing tools and equipment. 5. Encourage private sector player to take the lead and do farming as business 6. Provision of uninterrupted accessible and affordable electricity especially in industrial processing areas on a sustainable basis. 7. Construction of Hydro-Dams, Installation of Solar Plants, and biomass technologies. 8. Establish cold rooms in fish economy and vegetable production zones, Revive the food processing infant industries. 9. Government to collaborate with development partners to provide transportation facilities on loan scheme to private sector players using Public Private Partnership (PPP). 10. Processing and storage facilities for food stuff particularly perishable goods 11. Train market women and farmers on appropriate food preservation techniques and provide solar drying floors for preservation of foods Who should take these actions? Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Finance, Fabricators (FINIC, WINGIN), Importers, Processors, farmers, and training/academic institutions Ways in which progress could be assessed: 1. Increase in the number of large, medium, and small business enterprises processing local foods for both domestic consumptions and exporting for international trade. 2. Availability of adequate foods (especially fruits and vegetables) for domestic consumption all year round. Read less

Topic: Production Requirements Actions that are urgently needed: 1.Government to develop a policy on land tenure system protecting farmers and Investors in Agriculture by clearly stating the value of farmland per hectare and minimum duration of lease of farmland. (supporting Responsible investment in agriculture) 2. Government should reserve land for agricultural purposes and given to large companies to go into commercial farming in the country. 3. Government should directly engage and support the Private Sectors in Agriculture to embark on production of rice and other food components with a c... Read morelearly defined output and outcome. (tonnage of rice produced per year) 4. Private sectors to develop one model Youth farms of 25 Hectares each per district across the country that the youths can manage instead of the current initial 100 hectares. 5. Model farms to be established with irrigation facilities and train identified youths with passion for Agriculture to fully manage with technical extension support from MAF, Private Sectors and NGOs. 6. Construction of feeder roads especially those leading to large food production areas and linking farmers to markets including routine maintenance of roads to assist in improving our food systems. Feeder roads construction and maintenance schemes at community level could be supported by provision of food for work. 7. Promote the production and investment in livestock infant industries for livestock. 8. To address the problem of seasonal food production, government and partners should consider the infusion of modern farming technology and irrigation system, crop intensification and integrated farming into our farm management culture and train personnel in land development. 9. Assessment and identification of farmers in integrated farming. Based on the report actions should be taken to address the situation if less farmers are not involved in integrated farming practices through capacity building of smallholder farmers. 10. Identification of professional Irrigation engineers for the designing and monitoring of land irrigation. 11. Create competitiveness for the policy shift on the ring machinery for a quality delivery of services through assessment of the performance of agro-dealers based on the tonnage of food produced in their districts of operation instead of the acreage cultivated. 12. Establishment of Facilities where farmers can easily access improved and modern inputs at an affordable cost. 13. Development and rehabilitation of inland valley swamps (IVSs) in economic zones with such ecology. 14. There is a big challenge of mining companies degrading lands for agricultural and fishery purposes. One possible solution is the reclamation of lands in mining areas for food production. 15. Establishment of institutional farms for Police, Military, and Correctional Centers that government provide huge quantities of food for their monthly rations. 16. Improvement in the low capacity of smallholder farmers will be achieved through provision of extension services by increasing the number of extension workers and the required logistics for them to visit farmers in the catchment areas. 17. Establishment of basic social amenities in the form educational games and sports and recreational facilities in each chiefdom to reduce youth migration from farming communities. Who should take these actions? Ministry of Lands, Law officers Department and Ministry of Agriculture, SLeCAD, Youth Ministry, Land holding families, Implementing Partners, local Authorities and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA), Ministry of Works, Local Councils. Ways in which progress could be assessed: 1. Percentage increase in food production, availability in diversity throughout the year. 2. Good roads linking all districts and food production areas 3. Increase in youth farms in every chiefdom and well-established farms for government support institutions like the police, army, and correctional centres. Read less

Topic: Access to Inputs Actions that are urgently needed: 1. Strengthen Research Institution/and the seed certification agency to support the input sector and total involvement of private sector players the input supply chain. Example, encouraging private sector to invest seed breeding and production of foundation seeds. Support registered and certified seed growers to establish their businesses in country. 2. Government should increase allocation of resources/funds towards agricultural research for development. 3. Support registered and certified seed growers to establish their businesses in ... Read morecountry. 4. Establish seed multiplication farms through Agricultural Business Centres (ABCs) at chiefdom levels and initiate seed fares at chiefdom levels. 5. Review land tenure system to accommodate provision for commercial farming. 6. Policy review on interest rate to allow farmers to access agricultural loans to support food systems. 7. Build capacity of actors on input management and supply chain. 8. Consideration should be given to the gender friendly processing tools and equipment when government and partners are procuring farming tools and equipment as women play very big roles in food production. 9. Provision of adequate storage facility for agricultural produce especially at farm gates 10. Review of policy shift for the machine ring approach for the supply of government’s agricultural inputs to boost food production. 11. Agro-chemical regulations/policies should be implemented to the fullest. 12. Capacity building for personnel involved in the provision of plants and animal health services as well as increase in the human resource required. 13. Institute regular and effective monitoring to ensure inputs get to the targeted beneficiaries. Who should take these actions: Ministry of finance and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Sierra Leone Roads Authority National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) Anti - Corruption Commission (ACC) Legislative arms of government on Finance in parliament Private Sector and local councils Ways in which progress could be assessed: 1. Conducting feedback session or follow up session after three cropping sessions to get feedback 2. Increase acreage cultivated by smallholder farmers and increase in mechanized farming which will boost food production. Read less

The discussion was very participatory and brought out key issues or challenges that need to be addressed if Sierra Leone should attain a sustainable food system to meet the 2030 agenda as outlined below: 1. The issue of land tenure system affecting commercial farming was a concern which could be resolved by reservation of land for agricultural purposes. 2. There is a big challenge of mining companies degrading lands for agricultural and fishery purposes. One possible solution is the reclamation of lands in mining areas for food production. 3. Slash and burn are the culture of our farming syste... Read morem. Sensitization on farming systems from shifting cultivation to intensification supported by trainings for smallholder farmers. 4. Inadequate access to agricultural finance. Policies surrounding access to finance for agricultural activities should be reviewed as the conditions for loan repayment pose challenges for farmers to access loans for farming activities. 5. The current interest rate in commercial banks is very high (double digits) to support agricultural activities this should be a single digit to be supported by Bank of Sierra Leone. Period for repayment of loans by financial institutions should be specified in financial loan policies. 6. High cost for agricultural inputs- Cost of agro-chemicals should be regulated, and they should be available, accessible, and affordable for farmers. Quality seeds should be available, accessible, and affordable and inputs dealers should be available if not at chiefdom level but at district level. 7. To address the problem of food waste and low food consumption diversity: Government should ensure availability, accessibility, and affordability of sustainable electricity supply particularly in urban areas. 8. Low advisory services to farmers’ pastoralist and fisher folks: Improvement in the low capacity of smallholder farmers will be achieved through provision of extension services by increasing the number of extension workers and the required logistics for them to visit farmers in the catchment areas. 9. Gender inequality in accessing productive agricultural inputs: Consideration should be given to the gender friendly processing tools and equipment when government and partners are procuring farming tools and equipment as women play very big roles in food production. 10. Bad road networks came out as one of the major challenges in our food systems as such construction of feeder roads and routine maintenance of roads can assist in improving our food systems. 11. Climate change variability and limited early warning systems: To address the problem of seasonal food production, government and partners should consider the infusion of modern farming technology and irrigation system, crop intensification, and integrated farming into our farm management culture as well as the continuation of tax waiving on the importation of all agricultural inputs for the next five years. 12. Limited early warning systems: In the event of shocks that affect smallholder farmers, government and partners should establish seed banks to support smallholder farmers to revive their faming activities. The seed banks will also prevent the extinction of specific crop varieties and certain species of animals. 13. Poor dietary diversity is a major concern for both children and adults: Active or robust sensitization on nutrition education, scaling up sensitization on Sierra Leone Food- Based Dietary guideline for Healthy Eating. 14. Lack of food reserves stocks: Formation of food banks, provision of improved storage facilities and manufacturing of key foods for improved preservation. 15. Limited participation of women in policy making: Total inclusion of women in policy formulation and implementation along the food system chain and linkages. 16. Weak health system: health system strengthening can assist in improving the health status especially of women and children under the age of five years. 17. Dumping of inferior agricultural products from foreign countries: Discourage importation of inferior agricultural and nutritional products and encourage homemade foods by supporting large and small and medium enterprises. 18. Lack standalone animal settlement policy: Animal settlement policy will address the community disputes that emerge as a result of destruction of farmers’ crops by grazing animals in rural communities. Read less

During the dialogue process, the eleven thematic areas selected focused on almost all the five action tracks: List of thematic areas: a. Access to finance b. Access to inputs c. Production Requirement d. Processing e. Marketing and Distribution f. Consumption and Utilization g. Food waste management h. Policy development, enforcement and coordination i. Conflict and instability j. Climate/Environmental Extremes k. Economic Shocks However, during the discussion, emphasis was more on action tracks one and five; 1. Action track #1 ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all 5. Action track ... Read more#5 building resilience to vulnerabilities shocks and stress This is because Sierra Leone is a developing country and the priority is to establish a sustainable food system that ensures access to safe, nutritious foods at all times, and building the resilience of the food system to adapt to shocks from climate change variabilities (floods, droughts, wildfires), pandemic/epidemic (COVID-19, Ebola, cholera) that is and had affected the country. Linking the themes above to the selected action tracks and bringing out constraints with recommendations in a form of an action plan could position the country in a better way in the drive for food and nutrition security. Read less

There were no significant areas of divergence.

The participants made three main recommendations to influence consumer preference and demand for locally produced farm commodities and local cuisine. There is an immediate need to activate a sustained national educational and marketing campaign to create more awareness of the superior nutritive value of local produce especially those that are cultivated under organic and natural farming system and to stimulate more interest in local cuisine, The campaign, communication channels and activities should be broad-base to target a mixed audience. The actions should include a mix of above and below t... Read morehe line interventions targeting schools as a primary group with a mix of formal and extracurricular messaging, the use of social media as a low cost channel to deliver contents to all segments, food fairs and sampling experiential to influence preference and the appointment of influencers. The key actors could involve the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, NGOs and the private sector. To address the issue of high speculative pricing and accessibility, there is a suggestion to put in place a partnership with the retailers association to build better linkages between the farmers and the community retail outlets to offer a more structured and organised alternative route to market and consumer as a short term solution. There is also a proposal to facilitate the development of cluster farming system whereby farmers will form groups, associations that will own their retail outlets as well as the retailing of their farm commodities. To improve product attractiveness there was suggestion to encourage and train farmers in sorting, grading, packing and presentation of their farm produce. Read less

The participants debated and identified four main groups of problem areas that they thought are limiting the demand and the pull for locally produced farm commodities at household level. These are: • Inadequate education of householders of the superior nutritive value of local farm commodities and local cuisine. • Local farm commodities are more expensive than import substitutes. • Difficulty to easily access food commodities that are produced locally. • Less attractive product packaging and presentation that affect the perceived value. The issue of inadequate education of householders... Read more of the superior nutritive value of local farm commodities and local cuisine is considered a key challenge to overcome. This is more so especially in a market where there is more visibility, more mojo and more marketing drive to promote fast food as a convenient, cool and affordable option for a meal. In fact the power of better marketing is so strong and visible that fast food has become the default option for lunch in most schools, and in many food outlets. On the other hand there is practically no investment to promote local farm commodities and limited activation campaigns to course correct the situation of skewed and bias advertising and promotion. The overall conclusion is that a do nothing position will continue to provide the space for the growth of junk food and the consequential associated dietary problems and other associated socioeconomic challenges. The higher prices of local farm produce and the associated premium is linked to a system of low production and low productivity, coupled with an expensive route to market with speculative vendors and middlemen who collective drive up the price with margin that spreads from 50% to 200% compared to the farm gate price. The situation is exacerbated when demand for local farm commodities increases with increased tourism activities. The pricing component of the marketing mix problem is such that it is considered one of the most impactful challenges that could help or hurt the growth of the local component of the country food system and food defense strategy. Other than a few market places scattered around the three main islands, and some road-side outlets, it is difficult to source local food commodities that are produced locally. This is due the poor level of distribution and low level of organisation of the local food production system. Most of the 500 retail outlets do not normally stock and sell local farm produce and most of them prefer to retail import substitutes. Even the dedicated market places that is supposed to sell only local farm produce have tilting towards imported substitutes. The issue of packaging and presentation of local farm commodities is considered a smaller barrier. Most farmers do not sort, grade their produce and the general presentation of the produce is unattractive. Often the commodities are exposed to direct sunlight and roadside pollutants resulting in loss of quality. Read less

The subtheme of the second Dialogue was “What must we do right to get more local householders to consumer more local farm commodities? The second subtheme was designed with the intention to capture the perspective of the demand side of the equation; that is the consumers’ views and insights with regard to what must we get right to create more consumer demand and pull for local farm commodities in a market that has open access to imported food commodities and is on the receiving end of the strong influence of globalization and homogenization of taste, and the explosion of fast food outlets ... Read morethat serving "junk" food. The subject is also high on the national agenda of the Ministry of Health to tackle the problem of obesity in the population and to encourage local consumers to eat more nutritious food to mitigate the risk of brewing a local epidemic of unhealthy eating. Read less

There were no significant areas of divergence.

The Dialogue with the local producers of farm commodities has produced six key recommendations: • The participants unanimously recommended that the country should reappraise its self-sufficiency targets for all three categories; to increase the share of local production out of total consumption of livestock from 23% to 80%, local fruits and vegetables from 70% to 90%, and for carbohydrates from 10% to 50% by 2030. The targets are not based on capacity evaluation model but instead on the collective opinion, knowledge and insight of the group. • The second recommendation is to recalibrate an... Read mored reprioritize the imperative of a food defense strategy and the necessity to reduce the country’s dependence on imports for its food commodities within the framework of a global initiative to transform and improve the country's food sovereignty obligations. • The third recommendation is the need to rethink the agroforestry potential of land in the buffet zone to increase the productive use of such lands in making a significant contribution to the agenda to increase local production. • There is a call for more investment in climate change adaption and mitigation measures; including flood defense system, transfer of technology to deal with pests and diseases, new farming systems such as climate smart agriculture and the adoption of agritourism practices to build more socioeconomic resilience of farmers. • Another output is the need to remodel the financing strategy especially inflows from bilateral and multilateral sources to finance core infrastructure of high strategic value but of less direct commercial attractiveness, innovation and other high risk ventures, which otherwise would not pass the test for investment based predominantly on direct commercial return. • There is a need to rethink and invest in the marketing strategy to promote the benefit of local farm commodities and cuisine and to move the consumers to value more and consume more local farm commodities and reduce the importation burden. Read less

The main findings that have been identified as the key barriers that could slow down the imperative to increase local production of farm commodities are listed below: • The development of a more challenging trading environment where local producers have to compete with cheaper import substitutes. The situation is partly associate with the adoption of the fair, free and open market policy, limited capacity of farmers to exploit economies of scale at local level due to the size of the farms where the average is 8000sqm. This affects all categories of farm commodities especially livestock. The ... Read moremain argument advanced by the local food producers was the limited scope for economies of scale and as such they find it difficult to compete on price with exporting countries where the opportunity for economies of scales and location provide them with a competitive advantage. The general tone is that global food trade could constrain the imperative to grow the local food production system. • The participants were of the opinion that there is inadequate traction and coordination to implement and drive policy decisions to improve the productivity of the local food production system and to contribute a bigger part to the food basket. The general perception was that more often the benchmark tends to be set at policy document availability level and not enough drive given to tangible execution of decisions to transform the local food production system. • The scarcity of farm land and the restrictive land use policy. Seychelles has a total land mass of 452 km2 of which 50% is under protection regime and only 600 hectares are allocated for agricultural activities; which is less than 2% of the total land mass. The policy to restrict agriculture activities in areas demarcated as buffet zone is seen as a barrier to the growth and development of the sector. • The impact of climate change and the consequences of higher temperature, new rainfall patterns and distribution, frequent extreme events, floods and increases severity of pests and diseases are serious threats to the local food production system. • Difficulty to access development grants and low interest financing instruments. The limited access to grants to finance core infrastructure of strategic importance but with limited commercial direct return as well as the lack of venture capital to finance high risk developments were mentioned. • The participants discussed at length the gaps in the value and supply chains such as sourcing difficulties, access to technology, limited farm workers on the local market, regional temperature controlled storage facilities, demand and supply management platform as well as inadequate services from support institutions. • Inadequate marketing investment to promote local farm commodities and local cuisine to counter and mitigate the risks of homogenization and globalization of taste. Read less

The Dialogue was anchored around the subtheme “Growing the capacity and capability to produce more farm commodities – The targets, barriers and critical success factors. The subtheme is a reflection of the current debate and aspiration of the country to rethink its food system which is built on a mix of 10% local production and 90% on imports at a cost of close to 25% of the country total importation bill. The imperative to drive up local production and to remove barriers is a super-top national priority especially as we gradually migrate out of the Covid 19 pandemic. The purpose of the di... Read morealogue is to hear from the local producers in terms of their aspiration, perception of barriers and what we must get right to increase local production of food commodities. Read less