By Saio Marrah
The Minister of Finance, Dr. Dennies K.Vandy, has on Friday 19th November 2021 informed members of parliament that cabinet has approved the role of the private sector in the procurement and distribution of agricultural inputs with the objective of achieving food security in the country.
He disclosed this in the well of parliament while presenting the 2022 government budget for the authorization of expenditure from the Consolidated Fund for the Service of Sierra Leone and for other related matters.
The theme of the budget is “building resilience for inclusive green recovery.”
He said this is in line with the government’s effort to achieve food sufficiency and diversify the economy, “Cabinet has recently approved the adoption of major policy shift in agricultural sector. The policy shift involves increasing the role of private sector in the procurement and distribution of agricultural inputs with the objective of achieving food security while ensuring transparency in the delivery of agricultural input to farmers,” he said.
He said the implementation of the policy shift is progressing with establishment of big voucher system, providing machines at district level, and agricultural credit facility to provide credit to private agro -dealers for the importation and distribution of agricultural inputs.
He also disclosed that to consolidate the implementation of the policy shift to improve food security in 2022, government will develop robust criteria for selection of eligible farmers to be supported under the E-voucher system.
He added that the government will develop a road map for food deliveries, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and machines to ensure timely delivery of inputs for the 2022 planting season.
According to him, government will also formulate a policy in agriculture insurance to reduce the risk to investment in agriculture and attract private investment in the sector. The minister also stated that government will strengthen the capacity of the fertilizer regulatory agency and the seed certification agency to perform their respective roles of regulating the standard and quality of fertilizers and seeds distributed to farmers by the private sectors.
The minister also pointed out that the proposed two land bills are expected to boost the investment in food and cash crops.
According to Dr. Vandi, the increase in food insecurity is attributed to the rise of food prices. He said the higher food prices are due to the destruction of the international supply chain due to COVID-19, increase in fuel prices in the global market, high shipping costs and depreciation of the Leone against the US dollar.
In addition to stabilizing the consumer prices and the exchange rate, he said government policies in direct investment in agriculture in 2022 will focus on increasing access to quality input, mechanized farming practices, transforming extension services and linking farmers to achieve food security.
According to him, Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis (CFSVA) conducted by the World Food Programme in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture showed that food insecurity has risen from 50 percent in 2015 to 57 percent in 2020, with 12 percent in the country severely food insecure.
The total government budget for the 2022 financial year is 9.94 trillion Leones, of which 278 billion Leones is being allocated to the agricultural sector.
Parliament will soon commence the debate on the government annual budget.
Copyright © Político Online 22/11/21
