RIU Sierra Leone working to re-establish the poultry sector
6 December 2010

35 poultry farmers from across Sierra Leone started their training in agri-business entrepreneurship last week. In addition the trainers, Nehemiah Project International Ministries Inc, will also provide access to micro-finance.

David Sam Suale, RIU Sierra Leone coordinator, said:

"In October we reported on how RIU is working to reinvigorate the poultry sector in Sierra Leone. Egg production is hampered by price variation between the local and imported eggs. Local eggs are currently costing 25% more than imported eggs - so we need to address this to make our poultry sector competitive.

We have a three-stage programme of support which gives access to skills and knowledge, finance and farm in-puts.

This has been possible because we have been researching the bottlenecks which the emerging poultry businesses are likely to experience and we are working to be one step ahead of the producers with a safety net in place.

The 35 participants were selected for RIU support based on their involvement in the sector and our interaction with them, especially through the poultry feed platform. Poultry units at the moment range from 2,000 - 10,000 birds."

Credit is expensive in Africa and so RIU Sierra Leone has ensured preferential interest rates on a long-term basis through PAID. RIU-Sierra Leone and SLeCAD (Sierra Leone Centre for Agribusiness Development) have also brokered access to financial institutions so that the trainees can access the finance they need to expand their poultry businesses for sustainable production at scale.

The training is designed to help the trainees to develop concrete skills in developing business plans, cost-benefit analysis, cost-margin calculations and business cycle development concepts.

RIU Sierra Leone is also putting mechanisms in place to ensure farmers have sustainable access to feed, day-old chicks and vaccines to complete and promote the poultry value chain. This has involved working with colleagues in RIU Nigeria to access their private sector partners who can assure feed concentrates. The first shipments from Feed Masters are already on their way after RIU Sierra Leone brokered a deal.

Suale continues:

"Working with SLeCAD is part of an on-going programme of developing coordinated partnerships with other stakeholders in the agriculture sector to ensure we work together in the interests of poultry keepers. In the short term we want to ensure that we achieve our goals for import substitution of poultry products. Looking further ahead, we want to see poultry products exported as part of the socio-economic development of Sierra Leone."

RIU Sierra Leone's poultry programme is being undertaken with the full support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security, the parent ministry of Agric Vision (the Government Agenda for Change - making agriculture the engine of growth for 'Mama Salone').