By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
The Ministry of Agriculture together with the Small Holder Commercialization Project (SCADEP) has developed an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system platform for farmers.
The voice system which was developed for farmers to send in comments, requests and questions regarding agricultural activities in the country, was recently launched by President Julius Maada Bio on World Food Day in Kabala.
According to the Head of Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Abubakarr Tamu, the IVR was developed due to the gap that was existed during the COVID-19 where farmers were restricted to travel with their produce. He added that they don’t want to repeat that transport gap, noting that, agricultural work should continue irrespective of any crisis.
He noted that the system could be accessed by dialing 899 via Orange and Africell mobile companies for information. He further said that, all Sierra Leonean languages were installed in the system to ensure that the local people have access to the system.
Tamu went on to say that, about 3,000 (three thousand) people accessed the system during its launch in Kabala. He further said that, they have trained call center staff in Makeni to manage incoming calls. He also said that, they will continue to sensitize farmers on the use of voice system, so that they could discuss about their produce and other areas surrounding agriculture.
The Communication Officer of SCADEP, Abraham Karl Samura noted that they are implementing various sub-projects under the SCADEP project since it was established in 2017. He said they are dealing with five components, key of among them being access to finance, for effective agricultural production.
He pointed out that they have achieved a lot over the years by having installed their machineries and drying floors for the first phase. He said for the second phase, the farmers are currently constructing their buildings ahead the arrival of more machinery.
On market access improvement, Samura reiterated that the aim is to get farmers to bring their agricultural produce which he said include the rehabilitation of feeder roads. He also said that, they have just recently signed an agreement for the construction of bridges at two manual ferry crossing points at Manowa in Kailahun and Tompari .
“Those places where the bridges are about to be constructed are highly agricultural productive areas where a lot of commodities such as rice and palm oil are planted,” he said.
He urged farmers to take advantage of the IVR to communicate about their agricultural produce.
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