Last year, before the rice harvest season, the Ministry of Agriculture distributed milling machines to communities across Sierra Leone to process paddy rice into table rice that meets international standards. This initiative will significantly reduce the reliance on imported rice, encouraging Sierra Leoneans to embrace locally produced rice.
Rice importation has strained Government resources and made imported rice unaffordable for many citizens. Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Henry Musa Kpaka emphasized that supporting farmers with seeds and fertilizer is just one part of the solution. He noted, “It is equally important to help farmers harvest and mill rice to meet the preferences of our people.” The Government has introduced policies to attract private sector investment to ensure the sustainability of this initiative.
In collaboration with the World Bank-funded Food Systems Resilience Program and partners like the World Food Program (WFP), the Ministry of Agriculture is helping farming groups install these milling machines and training community youth to operate them. While the machines are provided to farming groups at no cost, these groups collect minimal fees from individual farmers to cover maintenance and repairs.
This effort aligns with the Feed Salone agenda, a Government plan to reduce rice importation and achieve self-sufficiency in rice production. By investing in the rice sector, the initiative aims to make agriculture more attractive to youth and women, creating opportunities and reducing post-harvest losses.
Currently, the Ministry is training over 200 community youth, including women, to operate and maintain these milling machines nationwide. One of the trainees, Mohamed Kargbo from Kambia District, expressed his gratitude: “I feel fortunate to be part of this agricultural revolution. Thanks to the Government and its partners, my community now owns a milling machine, and we, the community youth, operate it. The stress of manual milling is over for the women. Now, we can clean our local rice to match imported rice; stone-free, well-polished and fit for our tastes”.
The Director of Extension Services, Alpha Yayah Mansaray, highlighted the Ministry’s commitment to reducing hunger and poverty through agriculture. He added, “We are designing programs that equip farmers with sustainable agricultural practices, including climate-smart technologies, to increase productivity and improve livelihoods.”
This initiative marks a significant step toward transforming Sierra Leone’s rice sector and empowering communities to achieve food security and economic resilience.
