Sierra Leone Spending Over $15 Million To Import Onions Every Year

The Minister of Agriculture Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS), Professor Patrick Monty Jones has recently disclosed that government is spending about fifteen million dollars ($15M) on the importation of onions.

Because of this, he went on, his ministry has brought in five metric tons of assorted vegetables which should include onions and they want to provide this because the country is spending “$15M dollars to import onions, something that we can grow. We cultivate onions in six districts, so we are going to make sure that these seeds get to the farmers and we increase production”.

The Agriculture Minister said they want to increase agricultural production and productivity and enhance commercial agriculture development and to able to do that they would want to do it in the near future.

“We want to make sure that our farmers access quality and improved inputs, we want to provide one thousand six hundred (1, 600,000) metric tons of seed rice to the farmers. This goes beyond what is required to satisfy the fifty thousand (50,000) farmers we are targeting to give this improved input,” the minister said, adding that “We have got 42,000 bags of fertilisers and we are working to have 100,000 of 50 kg bags of fertilisers which will include MPK and urea. This we are going to get before the end of this season as we are making plans for that and they will go out for immediate use of these farmers. “

Professor Monty Jones further said he believes that in two seasons we should be able to achieve self sufficiency with some of these commodities we are mentioning now. Also, to be provided are assorted machines like power tillers, few tractors for combined farm weeders and threshers and harvesters so that “we go into commercial agriculture. I believe that even if you are subsistent farmer you should weed enough weeds, make sure that after subsistent farming is used for your food, the extra should go to the market to increase the income of the farmers.”

Minister Jones said they also have 100,000 litres of assorted abecide and pesticides, all of which they are ready to give out and would be delivered soon. “We have nine million seed line of cashew, cocoa, oil palm, coffee, citrus that are ready to go out, these are parts of the things that will go out.”