Dr Chakanda Tells NGOs

By SLeSCA Communication Unit

At a workshop held on Thursday 16^th March at the Conference room of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the Executive Director of the Sierra Leone Seed Certification Agency (SLeSCA), Dr. Robert Chakanda, told NGOs that in order to achieve food security it is imperative to have the seed sector right, otherwise all efforts will be wasted.

In his opening remarks as Chair of the workshop, Dr. Chakanda explained that prior to the establishment of SLeSCA, the manner in which the seed sector was operating was in an adhoc manner, with many players, all claiming that they are seed importers and dealers.  But after the establishment of the agency, they discovered that many knew nothing about seed, and were simply importing seeds that are not tested and verified for use as suitable and of good quality. Many, he furthered did not have shops or warehouses to keep the seed, as well as there was an absence of the necessary conditions for the sustainability of the seed.

Dr. Chakanda noted that several vegetables and crops have simply disappeared, as there are no seeds. Thus, SLeSCA is mandated to regulate the sector and ensure that those in the sector have the necessary knowledge to deal with seed. He furthered that after the war and the attending disasters that had befallen the country, the need for quality seed to increase production became a key factor. He maintained that the country was importing a lot of seed materials from abroad, and in some cases, these are packaged and shipped to the country in containers, without the relative conditions to ensure the maintenance of quality. He disclosed that with such seeds, though they can be certified as of high quality, but since when in transit to the country, the necessary conditions for shipment does not exist, the quality is affected. He furthered that the seeds should be kept in a controlled temperature, noting that whilst the quality may appear good, but the genetic material of the seed is compromised, as a result when given to farmers for planting, the result is that they often do not reap the necessary benefit from the crop. It is against this backdrop that the government decided to implement a policy shift, where seeds will be produced in-country by local farmers.

Dr. Chakanda expressed, with pride, that last year no seed was imported by the government, yet the farmers had enough seed they could plant, and this will be replicated this year. He disclosed that the engagement with NGOs is mainly for them to know about the operations and activities of SLeSCA, and to map out how they could contribute to the progress of Agriculture in the country. He observed that there has been occasions where NGOs had given seed to farmers with the certification of SLeSCA, and admonished them to cooperate with SLeSCA in ensuring that all seeds sold to farmers have SLeSCA certification.

In his submission during that workshop, a Director from the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Thorlie, buttressed the points made by the SLeSCA ED, adding that in the past, what was supplied to the farmers was merely impure seeds, and when planted by the farmers, the yield is not anything to write home about. It is this dependency on NGOs that SLeSCA is here to resolve. Under the watchful eyes of SLeSCA, all seeds are rigorously tested and certified as of good quality for farming. He called on all to ensure that any seed that is brought for supply to farmers should have a certification from SLeSCA, as this will ensure that good quality seed is provided to farmers, which will in turn enhance their production. SLeSCA, he furthered is in the process of developing a data base of all its growers to ensure that people have access to the required quality seed for the farmers. With this data base, NGOs dealing with seed will be able to know about the quality of seed and the dealers, thus in the event of any poor quality, the respective individual or dealer will be identified and actions taken to ensure that they comply with the SLeSCA regulations.

After a presentation done by Dr. Chakanda, several representative of NGOs expressed happiness in the knowledge gained from the workshop, and encouraged the agency to make available to them the data base of seed growers that are certified by SLeSCA, so that they will know from whom to buy their seeds. They gave instances of how some seeds bought by some farmers from some dealers have not been productive, but that with the recent policy shift of the government, they have observed that the crops grown by the farmers are yielding more, and they are able to sell some and keep the rest for further planting. They called on colleagues to heed the advice of the SLeSCA ED and the Director in the Agriculture Ministry to ensure that only SLeSCA certified seeds are given to farmers. The meeting was climaxed by group discussions and a question and answer session.