By Septimus Senessie in Kono
Last season’s wildfire outbreak left a massive destruction in its wake in Kono, development and agricultural officials have said.
Farmers are the most affected by the infernos that affected about half a dozen chiefdoms in the district known best for its diamond reserves.
Over 5,000 hectares of cocoa, coffee, oil palm, banana, cola nut and cashew nut plantations were totally burnt down. The fire also destroyed over 50 rice barns and other crops, like pepper, okra, beans, pumpkins, as well as houses. The affected farmers have been left in frustration and depression.
In all, seven chiefdoms - Fiama, Sandor, Lei, Toli, Gbanekandor, Gbense and Mafindor – situated in grassland areas, were thought to have been seriously affected.
David Sailu Sellu, District Agriculture Officer in Kono, said this year’s wildfire disaster called for greater attention to restore the hopes of the affected farmers who entirely depended on their farm produces for their daily survival. He told Politico that over 3000 hectares of cocoa, coffee, oil palm, Banana, cola nut and cashew nut plantations were burnt down in the course of the last dry season. He said they had already received comprehensive reports from Sandor and Gbanekandor chiefdoms among the lot that had requested for an intervention from his office.
Sellu also said the attention of the Early Warning Secretariat of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FOA) had also been drawn to the situation.
He explained that some of the crops, particularly from the cocoa farms, were burnt down beyond salvation. “They [farmers] need a total replanting of the burnt crops,” he stressed.
Kono is one of few eastern districts that produces cocoa in Sierra Leone, a highly valuable export commodity. According to the Agriculture ministry official, last year Kono district exported over 300 tones of cocoa and coffee. “With such disasters caused on our farmers, this year’s production is expected to drop by half of the total production of last year’s, which is going to affect our local economy,” he said.
The good news however, according to Sellu, is that the agriculture ministry in Kono had already nursed over 60, 000 seedlings to be distributed among the affected farmers to revive their burnt out plantations and to expand their farms.
He pointed a blaming finger on the Forestry Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security, for their apparent failure to provide “enough sensitization” to the farmers about the importance of under brushing of their plantation. He also questioned why farmer were not provided with fire belts during the dries.
John Francis Macarthy, Forestry Officer in Kono District, admitted the shortfall in performance on their part. But he assured that the situation will be different the coming planting season.
The Chairman of Agriculture Committee at the Kono District Council, Councilor Mohamed Dogbo of Ward 77 in Fiama Chiefdom, told Politico that the fire disaster had widen the poverty gap of farmers and noted that this demanded the urgent attention of the government and its development partners.
Describing rural farmers as the “hub of economic development of a nation,” Dogbo urged the government to treat them with all seriousness.
Looking and sounding frustrated in the dumps in his totally burnt-out Cocoa Farm at Yambama Village in Fiama Chiefdom, Sahr Sebba could not tell the acreages of the piece land that was engulfed by the wild fire.
He told Politico that he inherited the large farm from his late father. He recalled how they had watched helplessly as the fire destroyed the plantation. He appealed for help from the government and humanitarian organizations.
(C) Politico 16/06/16
