thestorieswetell
FERENSOLA
When the cost of onions, imagine, just onions, got so high leaving only a few to afford the aromatic stuff that has formed part of our cuisine, I asked myself how many more red flags we would need before we work the talk. From Ahmed Tejan Kabbah (of blessed memory), to Ernest Bai Koroma, and today, Julius Maada Bio, there has never been a letdown on the rhetoric to our food security challenge. When Ahmed Tejan Kabbah took office in the mid 90s, he made a bold admission to our precarious food situation, hence his famous pronouncement that almost eclipsed our national anthem – no one must go to bed in an empty stomach. I don’t want to get wrapped up into the ensuing clarifications. His successor, Ernest Bai Koroma took it to another level by going mechanical in his own bid to have us grow what we eat. Contrary to what we were told, most of the tractors ended up into the hands of people who did not even have a backyard garden to show. It was a loan scheme where recipients of the tractors used deeds most of which were later discovered to be fictitious. It was easy to blame those who oversaw the project for the colossal loss, because they were the architects of the racket. During the first term of the current president, there was so much talk about TOMABOM, with its indisputable capacity to reduce the quantum of rice brought into the country in no small ways. Whatever it is today, it’s obvious we jumped into joy rather too soon.
One Paramount Chief in Karene District announced a ban, effective last month, on the production of charcoal in his chiefdom. Speaking to me, most of his people didn’t buy it one bit. They accused their Paramount Chief of being insensitive to their economic woes, he should have come up with a fitting alternative before announcing his draconian ban, their words. The chief’s argument however was one you would expect of anyone who cares about the welfare of his people. He said his entire Chiefdom today is covered by ordinary grass, the surviving trees have all succumbed to the charcoal industry, including those that bear fruit to feed his people. Those in support of his move will say he’s got hindsight, but those hungry looking people will need something else to keep them alive to witness their chief’s prophecy of milk and honey.
The other day one of my friends asked me to help him with potato vines for planting at a village 38 miles from Makeni. I laughed off his request, but once he made his point, we got into action right away. He said if you want to eat vegetable soup in that village, and I suppose that goes for almost all others, then you’ll have to be all set like a packed lunch. There is nothing anymore like returning to the city with those products from the countryside.
Expectations are at the maximum, at least among his fans, following the appointment of Dr. Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella, to head the Presidential Initiative on Renewable Energy, Climate Change and Food Security. Agents of government described it as a commitment by the president to deliver on his feed the nation election promise. With the proven track record of the famous diplomat during his stint at UNIDO, where he rose to the rank of Director General before he resigned to run for president in 2018, especially on the energy sector, it’s therefore no wishful thinking to say Sierra Leoneans would be expecting a miracle. The retired UN diplomat will not be short of expertise, and most importantly, he’s got the president’s ear.
There has been reasonable private sector investment in agriculture, but a lot more is needed. One of my friend’s company has a maize farm that is due for harvest, but they can’t find a harvester on hire. The few that have are also farmers themselves, so it’s but natural you don’t empower your competition. I was going to come up with a few recommendations on our food situation, but I think there has been enough research that needed action. I am now calling on the authorities to get to work immediately.
