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REACH

ENDING CHILD HUNGER AND UNDERNUTRITION

Improving Nutrition through Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities

August 2011

REACH

ENDING CHILD HUNGER AND UNDERNUTRITION

Improving Nutrition through Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities

An example from Sierra Leone

Iris de Hoogh Alisia Osiro Esther Wiegers Daniel Fornah Memuna Sawi Edward Rhodes

August 2011

Wageningen University and Research centre

Njala University

Sierra Leone Agriculture Research Institute

Improving Nutrition through Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities –An example from Sierra Leone


List of Contents

ABBREVIATIONS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 2

CHAPTER 2: THE REACH SMALLHOLDER VALUE CHAIN MODEL .............................................. 4

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH OUTLINE .............................................................................................. 8

CHAPTER 4: DETAILED INTERVENTION ANALYSIS - FINDINGS ............................................... 14

4.1 Rice value chain development and entry points for nutrition improvement .......... 14

4.1.1 Introduction: livelihood and dietary pattern ................................................................ 14

4.1.2 Actors and interventions related to rice value chain development ............................. 15

4.1.3 Nutritional impact of Rice Value Chain Development: production-related

pathway ....................................................................................................................... 17

4.1.4 Nutrition impact of Rice Value Chain Development: processing/packaging-related

pathway ........................................................................................................................ 20

4.1.5 Nutrition impact of Rice Value Chain Development: marketing-related pathway ...... 22

4.2 Small-scale commercial vegetable production and its impact on nutritional status26

4.2.1 Introduction: livelihood and dietary pattern ................................................................ 26

4.2.2 Actors and interventions related to small-scale commercial vegetable

production .................................................................................................................... 27


4.2.3 Nutritional impact of small-scale commercial vegetable production:

production-related pathway ........................................................................................ 29

4.2.4 Nutrition impact of small-scale commercial vegetable production:

processing/packaging-related pathway ...................................................................... 33

4.2.5 Nutrition impact of small-scale commercial vegetable/fruit production: marketing-

related pathway ........................................................................................................... 36

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUDING REMARKS ..................................................................................... 42

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 48

Annex 1: Questionnaire key informant interview (agriculture oriented organisations) .. 50

Annex 2: Questionnaire key informant interview (nutrition and health oriented

organisations) ....................................................................................................... 56

Annex 3: Questionnaire focus group discussion ................................................................. 58

Annex 4 : Description of actors and interventions involved in rice value chain

development ........................................................................................................ 64

Annex 5: Description of actors and interventions involved in small-scale commercial

vegetable production ........................................................................................... 68


ABBREVIATIONS

ABC Agricultural Business Centre

ACDI/VOCA Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in

Overseas Cooperative Assistance

CAUSE Canada Christian Aid for Under-Assisted Societies Everywhere Canada

CAWEC Community Action for the Welfare of Children

CBO Community Based Organisation

CRS Catholic Relief Services

DHMT District Health Management Team

FAO United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization

FBO Farmer Based Organisation

FEWS NET Famine Early Warning System Network

FGD Focus Group Discussion

INREF Interdisciplinary Research and Education Fund

JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency

KI Key Informant

MAFFS Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security

MoHS Ministry of Health and Sanitation

NERICA New Rice for Africa

NGO Non-governmental Organisation

NPK Fertilisers Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium

P4P Purchase for Progress

PAGE Promoting Agriculture, Governance and the Environment

PHU Peripheral Health Unit

PVS Participatory Varietal Selections

RARC Rokupr Agriculture Research Centre

REACH Renewed Efforts Against Child Hunger

SCP Smallholder Commercialisation Program

SLARI Sierra Leone Agriculture Research Institute

SLPC Sierra Leone Produce Company

SNAP Sustainable Nutrition and Agriculture Promotion

UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund

VSL Village Savings and Loans

WFP World Food Programme

WHO World Health Organization

WUR Wageningen University and Research Centre


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This report is the outcome of a detailed intervention analysis on the nutritional impact of a few selected agricultural interventions in Sierra Leone. The detailed intervention analysis is part of an agriculture-nutrition research initiative of REACH, Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR), the Sierra Leone Agriculture Research Institute (SLARI) and Njala University. This initiative aims at identifying food/agriculture-based interventions that contribute to improved nutrition and that have potential for scaling up in the context of Sierra Leone. In conducting our research and writing this report we received the support of many people, whom we would like to thank for their efforts. First, we would like to thank Professor Edward Rhodes of SLARI and Dr. Fré Pepping, Managing Director Graduate School VLAG of Wageningen University for supporting the REACH/SLARI/WUR initiative and for their efforts in enabling our field work to run smoothly. Their support and feedback has led to the successful completion of this intervention research and its final report. Special thanks are also extended to Dr. Bjorn Ljungqvist, REACH Global Coordinator, for his continued support to the cooperation between REACH and Wageningen University and Research Centre. We wish to acknowledge the financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the United Nations World Food Programme, the host agency of the REACH initiative. We also would like to thank WUR Graduate School VLAG for its financial support through its Interdisciplinary Research and Education Fund (INREF). We thank Mr Daniel Fornah (Team leader REACH/SLARI research team) for the planning and team coordination during our field work, which enabled us to get the necessary information from key informants and farmers. Also, we sincerely thank all key informants and focus group participants involved in the research for their time and for sharing their knowledge and information. This research would not have been possible without the valuable input from staff of Wageningen University and Njala University. In particular, we would like to thank Dr. Inge Brouwer (Supervisor, Wageningen University), Marianne van Dorp (Wageningen UR - Centre for Development Innovation) and Ms Memuna Sawi (Supervisor, Njala University) for their supervision and technicalfeedback. We would also like to thank our fellow students from Njala University Mr Augustine Kamara, Mr Sheku Vandy and Miss Martha Williams for their help in designing our research tools, sharing their knowledge, and their efforts during the field work in translating as well as data collection. Our gratitude also goes to Mrs. Jebeh Augusta Samba and Mr. Peter Kobba for assisting in translation and data collection. We also would like to thank Professor Alpha Lakoh of Njala University for assistance rendered. Finally, we would like to thank Mrs. Rosaline Tijani and Ms Memuna Sawi for their unlimited hospitality during our stay in Sierra Leone which made us feel at home.


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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 The REACH initiative and WUR, SLARI, Njala collaboration

Agriculture has a crucial role to play in improving nutrition. It is the primary source of food and essential nutrients and an important livelihood source for many poor. Despite its potential to alleviate malnutrition, most malnourished are in effect rural people who are trapped in a situation of low-productive agriculture, poor health, and poverty. Literature (World Bank, 2007) has shown that improvements in agricultural production and/or household income do not necessarily translate in improvements in consumption of adequate and nutritious foods. Partly this is because improved nutrition has never been made an explicit goal of agriculture production systems and many agricultural policies may have even contributed to declining nutrition and diet diversity for the poor. On the other hand, nutrition has always had a more health focus and has not adequately considered agriculture as a key vehicle to improve nutrition. The persistence of malnutrition as a global public health concern makes clear that alleviating poor nutrition cannot be solved merely from agriculture or health/nutrition alone but requires better linking of the two sectors. It is in this context that REACH (Renewed Efforts Against Child Hunger) combined forces in reducing child undernutrition through both the health/nutrition and agriculture sector. REACH is a global partnership comprising the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP). It is committed to meeting the nutrition needs of the world's most vulnerable children and women, through evidence-based analysis and innovative programming that builds government institutional capacity, strengthens policy planning skills and prioritizes scarce resources. The REACH partnership has launched a project to develop and test national models to boost nutrition programs and scale up demand for nutritious foods through purchasing locally from small-scale farmers. The project is funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the host agency of this joint UN initiative. The objectives of the project are threefold: 1) identify ways to link smallholders to nutrition programming; 2) provide guidance to critical stakeholders to sustain agriculture-nutrition linkages; and 3) facilitate coordination of agriculture-nutrition linkages at country, regional, and global levels. In Sierra Leone, REACH collaborates with Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR), the Sierra Leone Agriculture Research Institute (SLARI), Njala University, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MHS), and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS) in an agriculture-nutrition research initiative aiming at identifying food/agriculture-based interventions that contribute to improved nutrition


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and that have potential for scaling up in the context of Sierra Leone. For this, operational research has been conducted, using a smallholder value chain approach. The operational research is structured into three components:

1 A desk review of existing global knowledge on the linkages between the smallholder value chain and nutrition programming;

2 A mapping exercise that focuses on a broad ‘mapping’ of the potential key institutions/actors and their linkages in the smallholder value chain in different agro-ecological and socio-economic settings in Sierra Leone;

3 A detailed intervention analysis on value-chain factors and opportunities in a few specific, high potential cases identified from the mapping exercise.

The first two activities have been completed and reports are available through the REACH Interagency Team at [email protected] or from the REACH website at www.reach-partnership.org. This report presents the findings of the detailed intervention research.

1.2 Detailed intervention research on agriculture-nutrition linkages The detailed intervention analysis on agriculture-nutrition linkages was supposed to focus on a few specific, high potential cases identified from the mapping exercise that have demonstrated or have the potential to produce the double benefit of increasing income of smallholder farmers and improving the nutritional status of vulnerable populations and that can easily be scaled up. However, given the widespread poverty and high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition in Sierra Leone, in addition to low literacy levels, poor infrastructure and service access, high levels of gender inequality, and weak market integration, it is difficult to identify single interventions that improve income and nutrition at household level and that can easily be scaled up. In addition, many of the targeted nutrition interventions implemented in Sierra Leone are typically within the domain of the health sector. These interventions focus more on the immediate determinants of childhood malnutrition (i.e. inadequate food and nutrient intake, poor health, lack of knowledge) and do not address some of the key causes that underlie malnutrition like poverty, food insecurity and gender inequity. On the other hand, agricultural programmes in Sierra Leone have not significantly contributed to improved nutritional status. Partly this is because improvements in agricultural production and increased household income do not necessarily translate in improved consumption of adequate and nutritious foods and partly because nutrition improvement has not been an explicit objective of agricultural interventions. The REACH desk review identified the potential nutritional impacts of agriculture interventions targeting smallholder market participation (i.e. commodity value chain development, strengthening smallholder organizations, rural credit programs, etc.) and entry points for these interventions to effectively contribute to improved nutrition as one of existing knowledge gaps in literature related to agriculture and nutrition linkages. Therefore, the detailed intervention analysis in Sierra Leone has focused on rice value chain development and small-scale commercial vegetable production initiatives and their potential for improving nutrition.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.reach-partnership.org/

http://www.reach-partnership.org/


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CHAPTER 2: THE REACH SMALLHOLDER VALUE CHAIN MODEL REACH is utilizing a value chain approach to identify entry points along the value chain of smallholders that offer the potential to increase income and improve the nutritional status of family members, particularly mothers and those children in the ‘critical window of opportunity’ up to two years of age. The smallholder value chain depicted in Figure 1 illustrates several pathways linking smallholder agricultural development to improved nutritional outcomes. The framework does not attempt to capture all the different pathways identified in the literature but concentrates on three different primary pathways linking agriculture with food consumption and nutrition. The most direct pathway relates to subsistence-oriented production for the household’s own consumption. The other two indirect pathway result from the sale of agricultural products to generate income and from the local procurement of nutritious foods produced by smallholder farmers that are to be distributed through food assistance programs. Commonly, value chain approaches discuss processes and actors involved from the producer’s perspective (i.e. the supply side). Not much attention is paid to the role of informed consumers in influencing the value chains and how changing demands for specific (more nutritious) foods influence processes and outputs of value chains, i.e. the demand side (IFPRI/ILRI, 2010). Recognizing the limitations of a traditional, supply-focused value chain model for identifying entry-points to improve nutrition, REACH expanded the smallholder value chain to include a set of demand-side activities. A focus on both supply and demand side issues within the smallholder value chain allows for identifying entry points along the value chain for food-based interventions that improve both the supply and demand for nutritious foods (Wiegers et al., 2011). The supply side of the REACH smallholder value chain (Fig 1: right hand side of diagram) encompasses agricultural development and food security initiatives that focus on:

Improving subsistence-oriented production for the household’s own consumption and income-oriented production for sale in markets;

Reducing food and nutrient losses along the value chain through processing and fortification;

Stimulating smallholder market participation to increase their income;

Procuring locally nutritious foods from smallholders to be used in food assistance programs.

The ultimate goal of supply-side initiatives is to improve food availability at household level and to increase household income (i.e. food access). However, evidence has shown that improvements in food supply and household income alone is not sufficient to improve the nutritional status. Thus to reflect a nutrition ‘lens’ on the smallholder value chain, the demand side of the equation (left hand side of the diagram) – the smallholder farmer as consumer of nutritious foods – must also be considered.


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Figure 1: Components of the REACH smallholder value chain model linking supply and demand for nutritious foods at household level

Smallholder value chain component Impact to smallholders

Direct pathway relating improved nutrition to subsistence-oriented production for the household’s own consumption Indirect pathway relating improved nutrition to income generated from the sale of agricultural products Indirect pathway relating improved nutrition to income generated from local procurement of nutritious foods produced by smallholder farmers

Supply

Demand

Commercialization and marketing

Preparation and consumption of nutritious foods

Purchase of nutritious foods

Intra-household allocation of

food

Local

procurement for food assistance

programs

Food for own consumption

Processing and fortification

Production

Income generation

Improved nutritional status


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The demand side relates to household decisions regarding purchase of food, allocation of resources to different household members, and knowledge of safe and nutritious food preparation and child feeding practices. Further, resources controlled by women, as well as nutrition education, are critical across the entire chain. Because the REACH smallholder value chain focuses on both demand and supply side issues, the value chain is articulated not as a linear process but as a loop which acknowledges that the smallholder farmer is both the target producer and a consumer of the nutritious foods produced. In this context, ‘value’ is defined not only in terms of economic impact (e.g. income earned) but also as a social impact through improved nutritional status. The REACH smallholder value chain focuses solely on food-based components, but does however recognize that reducing infection rates among young children, improving caring practices and health-seeking behaviour and improving access to water, sanitation, health and education facilities are all necessary interventions contributing to improved nutritional status.


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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH OUTLINE

3.1 Research objectives and scope The aim of the intervention analysis is to provide input for the development of REACH general guidelines geared towards operationalizing linkages between smallholder-focused value chain activities and nutrition programming. The overall research objective of the detailed analysis is two-fold: 1) To assess the nutritional impact of rice value chain development and small-scale

commercial vegetable production on smallholder producers and their families.

2) To identify key entry points for improving nutrition for smallholder producers and their families involved in rice and/or vegetable production.

3.2 Methodology: data collection tools, sample size and site selection Assessing the impact of rice value chain development and small-scale commercial vegetable production on the nutritional status of smallholder producers and their family members is complex as many factors play a role. Furthermore, rice value chain development and small-scale commercial vegetable production initiatives have a production/income focus and as such have not explicitly included nutrition outcome indicators in their design and monitoring/evaluation phases. Impact assessment can be done quantitatively and/or qualitatively. In the case of a quantitative approach, the nutritional status of household members involved in the value chain activities should be measured and compared against baseline data. Given the timeframe and budget available for the detailed intervention analysis a qualitative approach was selected. As such, this study should be regarded as an exploratory study. In order to qualitatively assess the impact of rice and vegetable production interventions on nutrition along the value chain (production, processing/packaging, marketing), the potential pathways through which they could contribute to improved nutrition were identified. These pathways overlap in time and are dynamic and could include (Fig 2.): Production-related: 1) Increased food availability for own consumption through improved production. 2) Increased availability of a diversity of foods through crop diversification. Processing/packaging-related: 3) Increased income from the sale of agricultural commodities as a result of improved

added value (this pathway only contributes to nutrition if income is used for the purchase of adequate nutritious foods).

4) Improved shelf-life (availability) and stability of supply (better prices/more income) as a result of processing/packaging.

5) Improved nutritional value of the produce through fortification, processing and packaging.


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Nutritional situation of Sierra Leone Sierra Leone has a population of 5,743,000 people. The life expectancy at birth is 39 years for males and 42 years for females. The low life expectancy in Sierra Leone is associated with heavy disease burden and high child and maternal morbidity and mortality. The underlying factors are pervasive poverty, high level of illiteracy, especially among females, limited access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation, poor feeding and hygienic practices, overcrowded housing and limited access to quality health services (WHO 2008). According to national data of 2008, stunting is a major nutritional issue among children under 5 years in Sierra Leone. The rural population has higher malnutrition rates as compared to the population in the urban areas. Sierra Leone is making progress in reducing malnutrition but more needs to be done to achieve the millennium development goal MDG 1. According to the national nutrition and food security forum, it was revealed that by 2010 the estimated number of malnourished children under five years was as follows: 18.7% for underweight, 34.1% for stunting and 6.9% for wasted or severely wasted. In the mapping exercise conducted during phase 2 of this research, it was revealed that acute malnutrition and food insecurity were highly seasonal. There are two seasons in Sierra Leone, the wet season also known as the hunger season (May – October) and the dry season also known as the harvest season (October – February).

Marketing-related: 6) Increased income from the sale of agricultural commodities (this pathway only

contributes to nutrition if income is used for the purchase of adequate nutritious foods). Taking the potential pathways and the general research objectives into consideration as well as the limited time-frame/budget and the information already captured by the mapping exercise, the REACH detailed intervention analysis focused on the following issues: actors and interventions, food based system, livelihood system, production, processing/packaging, marketing and demand side issues (Table 1). The detailed intervention analysis was undertaken by students from Wageningen University and Research centre (WUR) and Njala University as well as field/extension staff from SLARI and was supported by SLARI senior staff and lecturers of both universities. Data was collected through key informant interviews and focus group discussions (FGD). Two different checklists for key informant interviews have been developed; one targeting agriculture-oriented organisations (Annex 1) and one for nutrition and health-oriented organisations (Annex 2). A checklist for focus group discussions can be found in Annex 3. Besides the checklists, summary sheets were developed for the key informant interviews and the focus group discussions to enter notes. Data collection was carried out in two districts, Kambia and Koinadugu. Kambia had been identified as the main district for rice production in Sierra Leone and was therefore chosen as most appropriate for collecting data on rice value chain development. Kambia district is located in Northern Province and has an approximate population of 304,357. It borders Guinea to the north, Port Loko district to the south and Bombali district to the east. Its capital and largest city is Kambia with a population of 40,000 inhabitants. The district occupies a total area of 3,108 km2 and comprises seven chiefdoms. The main ethnic group is the Temne people who constitute about 40% of the population followed by the Susu at about 30% and other ethnic groups such as the Limba, Fula and Mandingo and others. The inhabitants are predominantly Muslim.


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Figure 2: Potential pathways linking different components of agricultural value chain interventions to improved nutrition

Production

Increased food availability for home

consumption through production

Increased availability of diversified foods

through crop diversification

Nutrition intake and

status

1) Production-related pathway

Processing/ packaging

Increased income through improved

added value


consumption through improved

shelf-life


status

Improved nutritional

value of produce

2) Processing-related pathway

Marketing Increased income from the sale of

agricultural commodities


status

3) Marketing-related pathway


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A special report by the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) classified Kambia in livelihood zone 3 where western rice, root crops and cereals are the main crops grown. The zone constitutes of a mixture of sandy and clay loam soils which are of low to medium fertility. The important rice cropping systems in Kambia district are upland, mangrove and inland valley swamp rice (FEWS NET, 2010).

Table1: Research focus

Topic Information needs

Actors and interventions related to rice/vegetable value chains development as well as health promotion.

Activities

Enabling factors and challenges

Nutritional impact of activities and possible entry points for nutrition improvement

Degree of collaboration between agriculture and nutrition/health related interventions/actors

Food system of the rural population

Common dietary patterns, changes in dietary patterns and reasons for this

Key nutritional problems

Main sources for household food and nutrition security (own production, income, food assistance) during the dry and wet season

Role of rice and vegetable production in securing food and nutrition in households

Livelihood system

Main livelihood sources for men and women

Role of rice and vegetable production in terms of contributing to household income and household nutrition security

Production

Changes in rice/vegetable production over the last decade in terms of total production, yield, varieties, policies

Changes in yield and reasons for this

Main varieties/vegetables produced

Main constraints and opportunities related to production

Inputs used and constraints in access to these inputs among men and women

Impact on nutrition, including: changes in price, changes in availability for home consumption, changes in crop diversification for home consumption, changes in dietary pattern, attribution of these changes to program initiatives

Entry points for improved nutrition, including for: improved production (quantity), crop diversification (quality), improved dietary pattern

Processing/packaging

Main activities related to processing/packaging

Challenges and opportunities for improved processing/packaging

Access mode (group or individual) to equipment/machinery

Impact on nutrition, including changes in price, changes in shelf-life (prolonged duration), changes in nutritional value of the products, changes in dietary pattern, attribution of these changes to program initiatives

Entry points for nutrition, including: improved price, improved shelf-life duration, improved nutritional value

Marketing

Description of available markets, including P4P, in terms of: operation, prices, timing, distance, challenges, constraints and opportunities

Gendered access to each of these markets and access constraints

Crop utilization (proportion for selling, consumption, storage), changes over time, decision making towards utilization (men vs. women), degree of distress sales

Impact on nutrition, including: control of income, stability of income, what is income used for, nutritional value of food crops purchased/substituted

Entry points for improved nutrition (opportunities for generating more income through marketing)

Demand side issues

Access to knowledge on nutrition and health

Impact of this knowledge

Sanitation and education situation of households

Intra-household allocation of food


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Koinadugu is known for vegetable production and had therefore been identified as the most appropriate area for collecting data on small-scale commercial vegetable production. Koinadugu district is also located in Northern Province and consists of 7 chiefdoms and 907 communities in total. Each chiefdom is built up of 80 to 180 communities. According to the 2004 Population census it comprises about 265.765 inhabitants. Koinadugu is by far the largest district in terms of geographical area and is bordered by Bombali to the west, Tonkolili and Kono to the south and the Republic of Guinea to the north east. The capital of this district is Kabala, which is one of the main cities of Sierra Leone.

In each district, 4 communities from different chiefdoms were randomly selected. Participating communities in Kambia included: Magbolontor, Masineh, Kassirie and Mambolo. In Koinadugu the communities selected included: Senekedugu, Sulaimanaia, Koromasilaia and Malaforia. In each of the selected communities, 2 FGDs were conducted; one for men and another for women. This was necessary in order to get the different views of the two groups, and also to ensure that women could freely speak. In each FGD 21-30 people participated, though in some cases, the number of participants would exceed this. Most of the focus group discussions lasted about 3 hours due to the vast amount of information the participants had, and sometimes it would take them longer to reach consensus, especially when discussing income control and yield- related matters. In case the participants did not agree on some issues, a vote would be taken, and the answer of the majority would then be indicated. The FGDs in Kambia were conducted in Temne, the local language of the main tribe living in the district. In Koinadugu, the FGDs were held in Krio. The key informants were identified from the mapping exercise and to a lesser extent through the FGDs. The agriculture-oriented organisations included in the key informant interviews were: the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security; Rokupr Agriculture Research Centre (RARC); Action Aid; ABC Development; JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency); Rural & Private Sector Development; Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); P4P programme (under WFP); CRS; CARE; PAGE; and ACDI/VOCA. The nutrition and health-oriented organisations interviewed included: the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) (Health care centers in the area were visited); World Food Program (WFP); and CAUSE Canada.

Several challenges were encountered during data collection, including language barriers, the duration of focus group discussions and the challenges faced in understanding some of the questions among participants. In addition, not all selected key informants were present.


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CHAPTER 4: DETAILED INTERVENTION ANALYSIS - FINDINGS

4.1 Rice value chain development and entry points for nutrition improvement This section will focus on the nutritional impact of rice value chain development on smallholder farmers and their families. Further, it will include the challenges and opportunities along the three main pathways (production, processing and marketing) and the main entry points for improved nutrition along the chain. The information in this section is based on the perceptions and experiences of various actors working in different areas of the value chain in Kambia district.

4.1.1 Introduction: livelihood and dietary pattern

In Kambia district, rice production is the main income source. Other sources of income include other crops (groundnut, cassava, sweet potatoes, Chinese yams and vegetables), trading, palm oil processing, fishing, animal rearing & production and other activities (wood cutting, carpentry, blacksmiths, cracking palm kernel). In all communities participating in the research rice was the main contributor to household income for smallholder farmers. Overall, rice contributes to at least 50% of the total household income. More than half of all produced rice is sold; the remaining is used for household consumption. The income from rice is mainly used for paying debts, schooling and other high expenses and only a small percentage (20-50%) is used for purchasing food. Rice production is a livelihood strategy dominated by men. Women mostly participate in the production of other crops or provide labour. As a result, men are the main earners and controllers of money from the rice value chain. Like the rest of Sierra Leone, rice is the main staple food in Kambia district. A typical diet mostly consists of rice, palm oil, dried fish, cassava leaves or sweet potato leaves and chilli pepper. Most locals will say ‘a meal without rice is no meal at all’. During the exercise, most communities reported no changes in their usual dietary patterns. Reasons cited for no change in dietary patterns included: preference of traditional diet, unavailability of other foods, and mono-cropping. The latter implies that some farmers prefer to concentrate on rice instead of other or various crops. Furthermore, the majority of smallholders are low income earners, meaning they have low purchasing power. Their dietary patterns are therefore influenced not only by their tradition and culture, but also by their ability to purchase food. Below is a breakdown of the food consumed during the wet (pre-harvest) and dry (post-harvest) season.


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Dry season Staples: Cassava and its products (cassava porridge, fufu, gari), rice and its products (rice fish, pap), salt, palm oil, yam, sweet potatoes, breadfruit, bulgur wheat, millet, pumpkin Protein: Fish Condiments: Pepper Vegetables: Okra, egg plant, cassava leaves, sweet potato leaves Wet season Staples: Cassava and its products (gari), rice, pumpkin, yams (Chinese, cocoa, white), plantains Protein: Fish Fruits: Mangoes, oranges, pawpaw, lemon, banana Condiments: Pepper, palm oil, onion, salt Vegetables: Cassava leaves

4.1.2 Actors and interventions related to rice value chain development

The main actors in the rice value chain include individual farmers, farmers organised in FBOs (farmer based organisations) and ABCs (agricultural business centres), NGOs, the Ministry of Agriculture, local & international traders, fabricators and blacksmiths. The main organisations active in interventions related to rice value chain development include:

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS) o Smallholder Commercialization Program (SCP) o NERICA (New Rice for Africa) o PVS (Participatory Variety Selection Plots)

ABC (Agricultural Business Centre) Development

Action Aid

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

Rokupr Agricultural Research Centre (RARC)

Sierra Leone Research Institute (SLARI)

Njala University

Rural and Private Sector Development

Promoting Agriculture, Governance and the Environment (PAGE)1

World Food Program (WFP)2

These organisations participate in different parts of rice value chain development. Their activities include amongst others: seed supply, training on agricultural technologies and processing, provision of processing equipment and marketing support. For more details on the interventions and objectives of each of the actors in the district, refer to appendix 4. Most of the agricultural organisations involved in the rice value chain do not collaborate with health organisations. In Kambia, the only health oriented organisation present was the

1

PAGE works in Koinadugu district 2

WFP works in Magburuka


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Ministry of Health. According to the Ministry of Health key informant collaboration with agricultural organisations had not yet been ventured into. RARC, however, has a newly formed nutrition department. To date, they carried out palatability tests in 4 districts to find out consumer preferences on rice varieties being developed by RARC. From this information they try to formulate recipes from selected varieties which they later share with community members through demonstrations. The ABC development reported to be working with a CBO called CAWEC (Community Action for the welfare of Children) which is involved in community sensitization on improving nutrition of the under 5s and pregnant women. The CBO workers are sometimes sent into the community for outreach programs together with the ABC extension workers.

Health and nutrition related interventions

Health centres are not easily accessible in this area, especially in the remote villages. Most community members have to walk long distances in order to access health care. Other support groups providing nutrition or health information are also not present in all communities. Besides, the key informant at the health centre pointed out that there were issues of understaffing, which results in health workers being overwhelmed with the number of patients they have to attend on a daily basis. Therefore, they are unable to carry out regular community outreaches for sensitization on nutrition. As a result knowledge on nutrition and health is not easily accessible in all communities. According to the MoHS, the community members have poor health care seeking practices. Especially due to money and time constraints they do not utilise health centres enough and only come to health centres when they are terminally ill. Traditional and religious practices in the community continue to be major hindrances to improving the nutritional situation in this area. These practices play a major role in the foods parents choose to give their children and might cause malnutrition, due to food restrictions leading to nutritional deficiencies, intra-household food allocation, fasting (which might compromise the quality and quantity of food for children who are not fasting) and poor food selection and preparation methods (determined by what parents have learned growing up instead of knowledge of nutritional value of selected foods). Unbalanced intra-household allocation of food where the man gets the lion share and women and children get the smaller, less nutritious parts translates into men getting the most nutritious portion of the food, especially in terms of protein rich foods. While most mothers breastfeed their children up to 2 years and above, the exclusive breastfeeding rates remain very low. Reason for this is that mothers mostly leave their babies under the care of the children’s grandmothers, while they carry out their daily household activities. These grandmothers often end up giving the children supplementary foods and water, which results in high rates of mixed feeding practices. There is poor sanitation in the area. Most households do not have pit latrines. Therefore they use the bush to go for ‘long calls’. In combination with a lack of safe water for drinking and poor knowledge on hygiene this increases the morbidity and mortality rates.


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4.1.3 Nutritional impact of Rice Value Chain Development: production-related pathway

Characteristics of the production component

According to the respondents, both KIs and the farmers, there has been an increase in production over the last decade, with occasional productivity fluctuations due to lower rainfall or the rainy season starting too early. The responses of the different communities regarding the trend in productivity differed, showing it is difficult for farmers to evaluate the trend of rice production over the years. Farming has been mechanised largely, so that more acreage of land can be used for production. The adoption level of new technologies has also increased due to awareness of added value of these technologies. The farmers are working more with the extension workers and are learning more about best practices. There has also been an increase in the availability of new variety seeds and an increased focus on early maturing varieties of rice. The availability of short term varieties, such as Nerica, which has a crop cycle of approximately 90 days, enables farmers to have two crop cycles per year. The main varieties produced in this area include: Improved varieties: Rok (3, 5, 6, 10, 14, and 16), Nerica (NL 19) - Lowland, Nerica (1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 20) – Upland. Local varieties3: Fatyando, Patama, Pafant, Patedeh, Pacolamah, Payandama, Pakiamp, Saidu Gbalie, Samba, N’konkoh, 3 months, Koinguinea, Buttercup, Yagbessay, Solo kent, Kwaolanko, Yakanu. The main inputs being used include: chemical fertiliser and compost manure, improved seeds (which are slowly replacing local seeds), family and hired labour, farm tools, power tillers and pesticides. Availability of these inputs is not always easy for smallholders; key limiting factors include:

Limited or untimely supply of seeds

Lack of micro credit schemes to enable access to credit for acquiring inputs

Lack of proper storage to store seeds for use during the next planting season

Compromised quality of pesticides

Financial constraints to access inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides and hired labour In addition to input constraints, other challenges faced by smallholders involved in rice production include: low soil fertility which makes it difficult to increase yields especially without the use of fertiliser, limited awareness and knowledge of new techniques, low literacy levels which makes it difficult to disseminate knowledge and lack of extension workers. Challenges aside, farmers are keen to produce more rice; they are curious and very willing to learn new technologies.

3

Local varieties are named after the person who introduced them to community, so same variety might go by different names in the different communities visited.


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Nutritional impact of the production component

Production can improve nutrition in two ways: through increased food availability for own consumption and through increased availability of diversified foods for own consumption as a result of crop diversification. Unfortunately, in Kambia district, these pathways have not yet been realised. Despite an increase in overall production, the availability of rice for own consumption has not adequately improved. This is because production levels are still low, large portions of the rice produced are sold and some rice is even smuggled across the border to neighbouring countries like Guinea as a means to gain income. The community has also seen an increase in household sizes meaning more mouths to feed. No significant changes were observed in food consumption over the last years. The dietary pattern remains the same due to limited diversity in production, lack of knowledge on agricultural practices, influence of culture, individual preference and declining purchasing power. As mentioned earlier, Kambia district is a major rice producing area in the country. Most of the on-going projects support rice production. Projects such as the one being implemented by the rural and private sector require farmers to concentrate on one crop, as a result of this most farmers prefer to concentrate on rice production. This makes it difficult for changes in crop diversification to occur. However, due to the availability of short term cycle varieties of rice and provision of seeds for other crops by NGOs (e.g. Action Aid) crop diversification is now occurring. According to the JICA informant, upland farmers are already growing several other crops, after harvesting rice, which are used for own consumption. This however does not translate to improved nutrition because the crops produced are starchy staples which are more energy dense as opposed to nutrient dense. Another way in which rice value chain development could improve nutrition is by using proper agriculture practices. Proper timing of harvesting for instance can increase the nutritional value of rice. Most farmers are however not aware of these proper timings. Most interventions on improving agriculture focus mainly on increased production and not on how proper agricultural practices can increase nutritional value of rice. People in the community only eat what they produce, which is mainly rice in Kambia district. Culture and traditions also prevents them from changing their diet. Most of the community members said that they eat whatever their ancestors ate, because it is all they have known as they were growing up. They therefore see no need to change. This is also evident in the markets, where there is no variety in foods being sold and where choice is very limited. Poverty also plays a role because in most cases, foods such as vegetables are very expensive and not readily available in the markets and thus cannot be afforded by the average rural farmer. Some of the food items available in the market include: rice, cassava, cassava leaves, onions, pepper and palm oil. These foods in turn constitute the regular diet of people in this community. The SCP project tries to ensure there is diversity in the diet by encouraging farmers to participate in livestock keeping. They do this by providing them with chicken and goats so that the farmers can breed them and use their products for household consumption. They however did not clearly indicate how much this project has led to changes in dietary pattern in the area.


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There have been changes in the price of rice over the last years but these are often periodical and influenced by production levels: when the supply is high, prices are lower and vice versa. In developing countries that are better integrated into the international economy and where transport costs have been reduced, price formation depends less on local conditions and hence price effects of improved agricultural productivity is more likely to be diminished (Haddad, 2000). However, for many poor countries (such as Sierra Leone) transport costs remain high and in these situations local increases in crop production will result in local decreases in food prices. Increased rice production thus translates into lower market prices, but this also implies less money for their own produce. As other food prices are increasing, the purchasing power of farmers declines.

Entry points for improved nutrition and health

In spite of the limited impact of rice production on the nutrition intake and status of smallholders and their families, several potential entry points were identified to improve the nutritional effect of the production component of the smallholder value chain. First, crop diversification (especially vegetable production) should continue to be encouraged among farmers. Diversifying smallholder farms can provide farmers with opportunities for restoring soil fertility by enhancing nutrient flows and increase their efficiency via introducing new sources of food and nutrition for local populations (Settle and Garba 2011). A good opportunity for such crop diversification and thereby food diversification is the promotion of fast maturing varieties. Secondly, improving the nutrient content of rice is a good entry point for improving nutrition via rice value chain development. This can be done by using fertiliser, crossbreeding and improved agricultural practices. A recent study showed that a short term and rapid approach for improving zinc concentrations in cereals is the application of Zn fertilizers or Zn-enriched NPK fertilizers. This will in turn maximize zinc uptake and increase accumulation of zinc in the seeds. Zinc-enriched grains are also of importance for crop productivity, since this results in better seedling vigour, denser stands and higher stress tolerance on potentially Zn-deficient soils (Cakmak 2008).

Production

Increased food

availability for own consumption

through production




status

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Figure 3: Potential pathways linking production of rice to improved nutrition


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Third, researchers should focus on identifying nutrient content of rice varieties to find opportunities for cross-breeding and production of nutritious rice. For instance a variety high in protein could be crossed with a variety that is well-adapted to the ecology in which it is used. Fourth, while trying to increase production, it is important to consider how processes such as the timing of harvesting can help to improve nutrient quality of the rice. For example, a study that compared parboiled and non-parboiled rice samples harvested at different times showed that parboiling rice at the hard4 and soft5 dough stages showed significantly higher amounts of starch, magnesium and B vitamins as compared to non-parboiled rice. Beta-carotene remained higher in parboiled soft dough samples as compared to parboiled hard dough samples (Rodriguez and Hurtada 2009). Timing of harvest can thus affect the nutritional quality of rice. Last but not least, farmers are keen to produce more rice which can increase the availability of food for own consumption. Farmers are curious and very willing to learn new technologies. This will not only lead to eagerness to adapt new technologies if approached by partners, but also to farmer to farmer extension of these technologies. In one of the FBOs JICA is working with, the farmers successfully disseminated their new knowledge to another FBO within the community. It is also important that this education given to farmers is coupled with nutrition education in order for them to understand how their food choices can affect their nutrition status.

4.1.4 Nutrition impact of Rice Value Chain Development: processing/packaging-related pathway

Characteristics of the processing and packaging component

Over the last years, there has been increased focus on the entire rice value chain. There is more emphasis on post-harvest activities rather than production alone. After harvesting, the rice goes through several processes before it is ready to be sold. Traditional methods are still widely used to process rice. The most common processes carried out in this area include: threshing, winnowing, steaming & parboiling, drying, milling, sorting and finally the rice is bagged and transported for sale or storage. Parboiling is an important part of processing and is labour intensive. Some of the women explained the process of parboiling as follows: ‘The rice is usually parboiled for 2 days. On the first day, a little bit of heat is used during the boiling of the rice and then the heat is further reduced and the rice is left over night to continue boiling. On the second day the water that remained from the previous day is reduced and boiling continues. The rice is then dried properly to ensure that it can be kept longer.’

4Hard dough: Harvested 123 days from seeding

5Soft dough: Harvested 110 days from seeding


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In most cases it was reported that 60% of sold rice is in processed form; the other 40% is sold as paddy. Village level parboiling is, however, often rudimentary and inefficient. It involves a lot of drudgery and large amounts of water and fuel (often local forest wood) are used. Some of the challenges smallholders face in processing include: lack of transport and poor road network, lack of drying floors which increases the chance of rice being contaminated with stones, wastage due to poor or inadequate processing, attack by pests, rodents and birds, lack of proper storage, lack of or inadequate processing machines (e.g. milling machines) and lack of knowledge on operating the machines.

Nutritional impact of the processing/packaging component

Processing activities can improve nutrition in three main ways: increased income through improved added value, increased food availability for own consumption through improved shelf life and improved nutritional value of the produce. The first pathway - increased income through improved added value - has been realised by many smallholders in the area. Several NGOs and governmental institutes support smallholder farmers in processing their rice. As a result, more farmers are now able to mill their rice and get better prices for it in the markets. Besides provision of machinery, the organisations working in Kambia district are supporting farmers to improve processing and packaging by offering other kinds of support such as:

Conducting trainings to improve processing capacity;

Assisting farmers with grading their produce in order to understand its quality;

Conducting post-harvest workshops The second pathway - increased food availability for own consumption through improved shelf-life - has not been successfully achieved. There are several factors which contribute to this. For example, some processing activities are not carried out adequately by the farmers, like drying. If drying is properly done, famers will be able to increase the shelf-life of their produce. WFP together with PAGE currently encourage farmers to ensure their rice does not have more than 13% moisture content. Another reason is the lack of proper storage which causes wastage of the produce through attack by pests and rodents and increases the risk of fungi due to high humidity levels.

Last but not least, the third pathway – improved nutritional value of the produce through processing – has been realised through the means of parboiling. In Kambia, rice is parboiled before it is milled. This is a way of improving the nutritional value of rice. Through parboiling micronutrients move from the outer skin of the rice into the interior and as such the concentration of micronutrients in the final product is higher.


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To increase the impact of processing on the nutritional intake and status, this study identified several entry points. In addition to the need to improve drying and storage (in terms of facilities and knowledge) and to increase access to milling machines, the main entry point relates to fortification during the parboiling process. Fortification of rice with micronutrients such as iron and zinc during the parboiling process can significantly improve the nutritional quality of rice. Although further research still needs to be done to determine the amount of iron or zinc that can be used to fortify rice, its bioavailability to the consumer after the rice has been cooked, and the feasibility of carrying out rice fortification in Sierra Leone, studies have shown a significant enhancement of Fe density in parboiled rice through Fe-fortification. As such Fe-fortification could provide a basis for developing a potentially cost-effective and highly adoptable solution to the improvement of Fe intake in the rice-based diet of countries consuming rice as a staple, taking advantage of the parboiling process already widely used (Prom-u-thai, Glahn et al. 2009).



added value

Increased food availability for own


shelf-life


status

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value of produce

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Figure 4: Potential pathways linking processing/packaging of rice to improved nutrition


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4.1.5 Nutrition impact of Rice Value Chain Development: marketing-related pathway

Characteristics of the marketing component

Overall, smallholders in Kambia sell over half of their produce. The most popular markets where smallholders sell their produce include:

Local traders

Luma markets (periodic market)

Freetown market

International traders from Guinea

WFP – P4P (Purchase for Progress)

Sierra Leone Produce Company (SLPC)

Kobia seed multiplication

Local markets (Kambia, Rokupr) These markets are open to everyone, male and female as well as individuals and groups. The markets are mostly accessed on individual basis. In the case of FBOs, a representative of the FBO will be sent to sell the produce. In cases where several FBOs come together to form an ABC, these small groups will choose executives who will be in charge of marketing the groups produce. The SLCP and local traders can buy both processed and unprocessed rice from farmers. In the other markets farmers often sell processed rice. Ba Moi Luma is quite a popular market where farmers sell their produce. It is a periodic market where the main market day is on Sunday, but there is always trading going on throughout the week, and the furthest distance from this market is 3 miles. Madina is also a periodic market which has Friday as its market day; the furthest distance from this market is 7 miles. At present WFP – P4P is the only market outlet that buys products in bulk from the farmers. Farmers working with PAGE are currently the beneficiaries. The project has not yet been set up in Kambia. The P4P project is a 5 year project which is on its second year now. They are mostly interested in buying quality rice

Purchase for Progress (P4P) WFP is involved in the marketing section of the rice value chain through its Purchase for Progress Project (P4P). P4P targets small scale farmers and works through partner institutions (e.g. PAGE), who are referred to as supply side partners. Operation At the beginning of the planting season, supply side partners will recommend farmers that they think will be able to meet the demands of WFP, especially in terms of quality of the produce. The partners, in this case PAGE, work closely with the chosen farmers, and monitor their activities to ensure they take all the necessary steps to eventually have quality rice. Currently PAGE works with 2 farmer associations in the area of Koinadugu, one in Tonkolili and one in Kono district. They do not have any farmer groups in Kambia district. Main Challenge The price of rice keeps changing. Since prices are negotiated at the beginning of the planting season, farmers always demand for more money when it is time to supply to WFP because market prices will have changed. Yet, WFP cannot pay above the negotiated price. One of the female farmers in the FGD said, ‘We only agree to sell to WFP at a lower price than the market price because they eventually supply this rice to our children. If this was not the case, we would sell our rice elsewhere.’


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from farmers through PAGE; this rice is used to supply school feeding programs in the country. PAGE works with the farmers who have been chosen as the suppliers of rice for P4P to ensure that their rice is of high quality and meets the WFP standards. WFP representatives negotiate prices in advance (during planting season) with farmers and agree on the amount of rice that will be supplied from each group of farmers. Then once the farmers harvest, they process the rice, a quality check is carried out on the rice by WFP and if it meets the given standards, WFP buys the rice. The other markets do not have standardized prices or standardized measurements for rice. The farmers or traders usually determine the price. However, in most cases the traders end up determining the price, especially when they realize farmers are in a desperate situation. Farmers only determine the price when they are not selling under distress. The main challenges farmers face in marketing include: poor transport system, lack of standardised measurements, poor storage facilities and long distances to the available markets.

Nutritional impacts of the marketing component

Marketing of rice can potentially improve nutrition through increased income from the sale of agricultural commodities, however, only if this income is (partly) used for purchasing nutrient dense food items. In the case of Kambia, higher yields and improved processing resulting in better prices have led to an overall improvement in income from rice. Most (about 60%) of the rice is processed, thus obtaining better prices, and distress sell rates have decreased due to farmers having increased access to grants and credit facilities. This ensures that they do not have to sell unprocessed rice to get money to sort out unforeseen emergencies such as settling medical bills, expenses incurred in bereavement, mitigation settlements (e.g. when boy impregnates girl out of wedlock) and other expenses such as school fees, paying off debtors and farming expenses like hiring labour. While, according to key informants and focus group discussions, income from rice has increased for most smallholders in Kambia district, this income does not translate into an improvement in the nutritional intake and status. According to focus group participants, about half of the income from rice is used to purchase food. The rest of the money is used for other expenses like paying off debts, medical expenses and school fees. Most of the purchased foods are starchy staples which are energy dense with very low nutritive value. Foods purchased in both the dry and wet season include starches and legumes (rice, sweet potato, cow peas, millet, sorghum, coco yam and bulgur), palm oil and condiments like salt, pepper and Maggi cubes. In addition, farmers are challenged by increasing food prices. Even though smallholders gain more income from rice, other food items have become more expensive to purchase.


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Rice value chain development is alike many other agricultural interventions that increase household income but not necessarily lead to improved nutritional wellbeing (see Haddad, 2000; World Bank, 2007). Partly, this is because interventions aimed at increasing smallholders’ income seldom explicitly also target enhancing food and nutrition security. While agricultural interventions that support smallholder commercialization have the potential to reduce malnutrition through increased income, evidence has shown that increased income alone does not necessarily translate into improved nutrition. These interventions should be combined with nutrition interventions (Haddad et al., 2003; World Bank, 2007). Such interventions should address underlying causes of malnutrition like improving access to water, sanitation and health facilities, reducing infection rates among young children, increased awareness of nutrition and health and behavioural change.

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Marketing

Increased income from the sale of



status

Figure 5: Potential pathways linking marketing of rice to improved nutrition


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4.2 Small-scale commercial vegetable production and its impact on nutritional status This section describes the observed impact of small-scale commercial vegetable production on the nutritional status of small-scale farmers and their families in Koinadugu district as reported by the key informants and focus groups. Small-scale commercial vegetable production involves the production of predominantly exotic vegetables by smallholder farmers, mostly women, for commercial purposes. These vegetables are sold in Freetown to wholesalers, in local or Luma markets to traders, and to a lesser extend at farm gate to local traders. Marketing can be done individually or through farmer-based groups. Potential nutritional impact of small-scale commercial vegetable production is derived from improved consumption of vegetables and from the use of additional income for purchasing high-nutritional value food products. To gain insights whether small-scale commercial vegetable production actually contributes to improved nutrition intake and status, this section will concentrate on the different value chain components and their impact on nutrition and potential entry points for improved nutrition.

4.2.1 Introduction: livelihood and dietary pattern

In Koinadugu district agriculture is the main livelihood source. Agriculture production includes amongst others vegetable production, rice production, groundnut production, cattle farming and pigeon pea production. In 2004, 41,259 households, which is about 89%, were involved in agriculture (Lahai, Sannoh et al. 2006). Koinadugu accounts for about 7.5% of the total amount of land cultivated in Sierra Leone. In 2004, the district accounted for 9.7% of the total vegetable production in Sierra Leone. Data from the 2004 Population and Housing census also shows that rice, groundnut and vegetable production belong to the main crops in the district in terms of acreage of cultivated land (Lahai, Sannoh et al. 2006). Besides these crops, coffee, cassava, sweet potato and oil palm are indicated as largely cultivated crops in acreage used. In terms of livestock production, Koinadugu district accounts for almost 40% of the total number of cattle and 17% of all goats and sheep that are farmed in the country and is thereby the main district in cattle, goat and sheep farming. Women are mostly involved in vegetable production; men are mostly involved in cattle farming or other types of business like trading. For total crop farming, 55.7% of the farmers is female and 44.3% is male; for livestock farming 55.0% is male and 45.0% is female (Lahai, Sannoh et al. 2006). These figures are not available for gender distribution in vegetable farming. For all communities included in the focus group discussions, vegetable production contributes for over 50% to the overall household income and is thereby one of the main sources of income for smallholders. Among the participating communities both men and women are involved in vegetable production, however most of the work is done by women. While women provide most of the labour the income earned from vegetable production is mainly controlled by men.


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In Koinadugu district, the main products consumed include mostly staple foods like rice, cassava, pigeon peas, sweet potato, yams and groundnut. In addition, fish and condiments like Maggi and palm oil are part of the daily diet. Only a few of the vegetables that are grown by the farmers are consumed. These are mainly local vegetables like okra and cassava leaves and not the newly introduced ‘European vegetables’, like lettuce and carrots. Vegetable production has thus not resulted in large changes in dietary pattern; in most communities the population still adheres to the traditional dietary pattern which mainly consists of rice, fish and condiments. There are no large differences in dietary pattern between the wet (pre-harvest) and dry (post-harvest) season. Only in case of scarcity more (boiled) cassava is eaten in the wet season as compared to the dry season.

4.2.2 Actors and interventions related to small-scale commercial vegetable production

In Koinadugu district the main actors involved in small-scale commercial vegetable production are farmers, farmer-based organisations (FBO’s), farmer field schools, agriculture business centres (ABC’s), (local) traders, wholesalers, village savings and loans (VSL)groups, the government and NGOs. About 80 to 90% of all inhabitants are reached by at least one intervention related to vegetable production. The main reason for this is that most NGOs are targeting the majority of the chiefdoms, so even if a specific NGO does not target all communities within the chiefdom, chances are high that another NGO will reach those non-targeted communities. The main international organisations and NGOs active in Koinadugu district are WFP, CARE, CRS, CAUSE Canada, ACDI/VOCA and FAO. Besides, farmers are supported by local NGOs like Daindemben federation, CES, MADAM and Future in Your Hands. Most vegetable farmers are organised in farmer-based organisations or farmer field school groups to improve bargaining power in the markets. These groups are involved in vegetable farming as well as other crops like groundnut, rice or cassava. The majority of these groups consist of both men and women and have about 30 members. Most of these groups are supported or even formed by an NGO. NGOs provide technical support and business education to these groups and supply them with free or subsidized inputs. Farmers that work on an individual basis are supported to a lesser extent by agriculture related interventions, since agriculture-oriented NGOs mostly target farmer groups. These individual farmers might receive support in terms of input supply or access to credit facilities. Most communities have a village savings and loans (VSL) group. These VSL-groups are mostly implemented by NGOs, but some of them now function independently. VSL-groups as well as most FBO’s allow farmers to get microcredit or loans to purchase required inputs. Also farmers can have individual or group savings within these VSL-groups or FBO’s. For more details on the interventions and objectives of each of the actors in the district, refer to appendix 5.


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Main challenges faced by implementing agencies

The main challenges in collaboration between the various key actors are unwillingness of farmers to participate in interventions implemented by NGOs and the Ministry. The main reasons for this according to the Ministry and NGOs are that experienced farmers doubt the expertise of field staff and subsequent reluctance of these farmers in adhering to the advice given. Besides, cultural beliefs and taboos prohibit community members from participation or adherence to messages and newly gained knowledge. The main problem for NGOs is that projects are donor-driven, so decisions are made externally. As a result of this not all interventions necessarily fit the country’s and farmers’ needs. This leads to only small impact of these projects and a waste of money. Also there is a lack of good collaboration among NGOs which results in a lot of NGOs doing the same things. Another problem for NGOs that was mentioned is overcharging of inputs by the Ministry, which results in a lack of funding for interventions.

For the government lack of staff poses a big challenge in providing good support to farmers. However, due to good consultation and collaboration between the Ministry and NGOs most of the work that the Ministry cannot do is done by NGOs. Finally, transport poses a major challenge to all key actors in Koinadugu. Bad roads, lack of vehicles and remoteness of the district (especially during the rainy season due to flooding of roads) make it difficult to reach all the villages.

Health and nutrition-related interventions

Farmers are not only supported in production, processing and marketing of vegetables, but also receive nutrition education and health support. Within some currently ongoing interventions these two areas are combined. For example, SNAP (Sustainable Nutrition and Agriculture Promotion) aims at reducing malnutrition and focuses amongst others on agriculture and health. Under the agricultural component, producers are trained to improve crop production, including vegetable cultivation and how to grow and process complementary foods. During the rainy season communities are provided with food, since then they face a shortage of food. When food support is given to vulnerable community members they will also be trained in how to use these foods; for instance by giving food preparation demonstrations. Presently, the government is providing workshops at community level on food preparation to increase farmers’ knowledge on how to better use their own crops. According to the Ministry knowledge on the nutritional value and health aspects of vegetables (and other foods) has improved in Koinadugu district.


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Besides these interventions that combine agriculture and nutrition support, there are also some organizations that only give support in terms of nutrition and health. These nutrition and health-oriented organisations target the entire community but also focus specifically on pregnant or lactating women and children under 5 years of age. These organisations provide support to all communities in Koinadugu in terms of medical care, a vaccination program for children, nutrition and health education, food supply for malnourished children and a school feeding program. ACDI/VOCA and CARE also collaborate with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) in terms of collaborative training for nurses in the communities, monitoring and evaluation of interventions and combined staff trainings. Finally, CARE monitors growth of children at community level in collaboration with the MoHS and PHU’s (peripheral health units) to support mothers that are not able to go to PHU’s for these measurements.

4.2.3 Nutritional impact of small-scale commercial vegetable production: production-related pathway

Characteristics of the production component

Vegetable production has recently become the main livelihood and income source in Koinadugu. The main reasons for this shift to vegetable production for (mostly female) farmers are the possibility for continuous cropping due to seasonal differences between various crops and the high income that can be obtained with vegetable production as compared to other crops. Besides, the soil and weather are favourable for vegetable production and in general there is enough rainfall in the district. However, continuous cropping and burning of land leads to nutrition depletion of the soil and subsequently lower yields. Further, during the dry season there is not enough water available, since a good irrigation system is lacking. Another downside of vegetable production is the high level of pests (insects, grasshoppers, bush animals) and weed infestations. The main varieties of vegetables that are cropped are hot pepper, (plum) tomatoes, okra, cucumber, green beans, garden egg, turnip, eggplant, krain krain, squash, spinach, cabbage, carrot, sweet pepper, (spring) onion, lettuce, watermelon, radish, cauliflower, parsley, scows and beet root. For most of these vegetables local as well as improved seeds are used. Some farmers are supplied free of charge or at very low interest rates with these seeds by NGOs, but most farmers buy the vegetable seeds themselves. The main challenge if seeds are supplied is that this is mostly not done in time for optimal planting season. For farmers that buy seeds themselves the main challenge is high cost for seeds due to them being imported. Next to seeds various other inputs are used in vegetable production, like fertilizer, hired labour and farm tools. The extent to which these inputs are used mainly depends on households’ purchasing power and the availability of these inputs. Most inputs, like fertilizer and seeds, are only sold in bulk. Many farmers cannot afford these bulk amounts. Farmers also face challenges in accessing hired labour due to the decreasing number of available labourers.


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Nutritional impact of the production component

The nutritional impact of small-scale commercial vegetable production in terms of the production component can be achieved via two pathways. Firstly, increased production or productivity can improve food availability within the household if these crops are (partly) used for home consumption. Secondly, diversification of the types of crops which are grown results in availability of more diversified foods. This can improve the dietary pattern within households if these diverse crops are used for home consumption. According to all key informants that were interviewed in the district and to some of the farmers in selected communities, vegetable production and yields have increased over the last 3 years. The main reasons for this are increased number of farmers (especially women) involved in vegetable production, improved technical knowledge, improved availability of improved (short-duration) varieties of vegetable seeds and increased application of biological or chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This increase in vegetable production however only translates into improved nutritional status if these vegetables are used for home consumption. According to most NGOs food availability at household level has increased over the last decade. Not all NGOs actually monitored this, some just assumed increased food availability as a result from increased production. The farmers, on the other hand, indicated that even though production and productivity have increased over the years, the actual food availability within the household has decreased. The main reasons given for this are increase in household population and lack of labour to cultivate all the available land. Due to the increased household population the amount of food available has to be divided over more persons, resulting in less food per member. The productivity of farmers has increased due to increased agricultural knowledge, but the amount of land that can be cultivated has decreased due to decreased availability of labour for two reasons: children that used to help on the land are now in school and less hired labour is available due to migration to urban areas. Therefore, still almost all harvest is sold to pay all debts that were made for buying farm inputs and the net availability of food in households has not increased. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security and NGOs not all crops are sold, but some are used for home consumption. Community members are stimulated by NGOs and the MAFFS to diversify their diet and also consume their own vegetables. This is mainly done by giving education on the nutritional value of vegetables and workshops on preparation methods of ‘European vegetables’. These workshops should increase farmer knowledge on how to prepare their own crops. No results of these workshops are apparent however, since these workshops have not been held in the selected communities. The women in selected communities indicated not knowing how to prepare the newly introduced vegetables (e.g. lettuce) as one of the reasons for not including them in their diet.


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Recently NGOs as well as the MAFFS have also started giving education on preparation of local vegetables in order to retain nutrients. The impact of this education on nutritional status has not been monitored. According to the MAFFS more different crops are being produced as compared to previous years. This is possible due to high soil fertility in the area, availability of a variety of imported vegetable seeds and sensitisation and training of farmers. Farmer Field Schools and NGOs are not dealing with one type of crop, but train farmers in cropping different types of vegetables. This crop diversification has however not translated into a diversified diet. Reasons for this are that the majority of the vegetables is sold instead of used for own consumption. Besides, community members prefer rice and other local products above ‘European vegetables’. Finally, women do not know the nutritional value of most of vegetables they are growing. Another pathway via which production leads to increased food availability as well as to diversification according to NGOs is the implementation of backyard farming by women’s groups in some of the communities. This backyard farming implies women growing vegetables on very small-scale for home consumption. This has however not been confirmed by women in the selected communities. This could be due to the fact that only four communities have been included in this research. Finally, impact on nutrition via production is also achieved at school level. CAUSE Canada and CRS have implemented a school gardening programme. Within this programme children learn how to grow and prepare vegetables and are educated on the nutritional value of these crops. The NGOs indicated two ways via which children in the schools that participate in this programme can benefit from it. Firstly, children get to eat these self-grown vegetables at school which improves their dietary diversity. Secondly, they are sensitized at young age to the taste of these vegetables and are thus likely to continue consuming these vegetables at a later age.

Production


consumption through production




status

-

+

-

-

Figure 6: Potential pathways linking production of vegetables to improved nutrition


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From the key informant interviews as well as the focus group discussions, also opportunities for improvement in terms of production and how this could contribute to improved nutrition have been identified. Firstly, timely access to required inputs like seeds, fertilizer and pesticides could help improve productivity. With this increased productivity food availability could increase. Increased production also gives farmers another opportunity in overcoming lack of seeds and untimely supply, since increased yields will allow farmers to store a part of their harvest as seeds for the next planting season. Secondly, secured land access could contribute to increased production, since especially women can only rent land for 1 year. As a result of this short-term land access farmers are not willing to make large investments in their land and year-round cropping is discouraged. Thirdly, improved access to (affordable) labour would allow farmers to cultivate more land. One opportunity to achieve this could be by making farming more attractive to the youth; this way youth can be stimulated to move back from the cities to rural areas and get involved in farming. Availability of labour can be further enhanced by providing farmers with adequate medical facilities and by training local nurses. Now farmers recover slowly from illnesses which results in lower yields. Some NGOs are already training nurses and female community members in medical care. This has been proven to be successful in some communities, so it should be further scaled up. Fourthly, a project that has good potential for scaling up is the school gardening programme. Via this programme children have access to more diversified food at school and are sensitized to eating and preparing various vegetables. Fifthly, impact on nutrition can be achieved by improved cooperation of farmers within FBO’s or FarmerFieldSchools. Within these groups farmers should be encouraged to set up their own village savings and loans systems, so that they have access to loans at low interest rates at times of emergency. Such loans can help farmers to pay for medical bills, buy food at times of scarcity, pay for labour in case of illness and buy farm inputs in time for planting season. Finally, when farmers get food support or are supplied with vegetable seeds they should also be trained in how to prepare these foods and what their nutritional value is; for instance by giving food preparation demonstrations. Currently, women involved in vegetable production lack knowledge on nutritional value and (proper) preparation of newly introduced crops (e.g. carrots, lettuce). For local crops (e.g. okra, cassava leaves) knowledge is lacking on how to ensure nutritional value can be contained during preparation; now due to overcooking for instance a lot of micronutrients are lost during preparation. The government has already started giving workshops at community level on food preparation to increase farmer knowledge on how to prepare their own crops and the importance of these crops for improved nutritional status.


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4.2.4 Nutrition impact of small-scale commercial vegetable production: processing/packaging-related pathway

Characteristics of the processing/packaging component

All farmers in selected communities indicated that no processing of vegetables takes place. In one community (Sulimanaia) farmers mentioned that an NGO promised to teach them how to process tomatoes into tomato paste, but so far no one has come. The key informants confirmed that hardly any processing takes place in Koinadugu. However, according to CARE and the Ministry of Agriculture a small minority of farmers is involved in low key processing of vegetables. These farmers dry vegetables and fruits by using local methods, like drying floors. This is merely done for own consumption purposes. According to the Ministry of Agriculture some women use a new processing technique, namely ‘solar buildings’, for drying onions in bulk. This new method was however not used in the selected communities. As indicated by ACDI/VOCA the lack of cool rooms is the main reason why farmers immediately sell the vegetables after harvesting. Access to cool rooms would allow farmers to store vegetables until processing without risking high spoilage rates. Another reason why no processing takes place is that processing equipment is not available within Sierra Leone; this has to be imported which takes a long time. Besides, some areas are difficult to access due to bad infrastructure and lack of transport facilities. This poses a challenge to farmers to get their harvest to processing centres if these would be available. After harvesting most of the vegetables are thus immediately packed and transported to the market for selling. Only for roman tomatoes farmers indicated to keep the yield in store after harvesting to allow proper maturing of the tomatoes; then the tomatoes will be washed and packaged for selling. For packaging bags, boxes and baskets are used, which are all readily available in the market. The main constraint in accessing the packaging material is money. Farmers in Koromasilaia community also indicated that baskets are difficult to access, since these are not locally available and have to be bought far away. In terms of labelling farmers are facing constraints in accessing paint and markers.

Nutritional impact of the processing/packaging component

Processing and packaging can have impact on nutrition via three pathways, namely through increased income, increased food availability due to improved shelf-life and improved nutritional value of the products. As there are hardly any interventions on processing of vegetables occurring in Koinadugu also hardly any impact on nutrition status can be seen. Increased income can be obtained if processing of vegetables results in added value. Since none of theselected communities was involved in large scale processing so far no changes in price that farmers get for their vegetables can be seen as a result from (improved) processing in the selected communities. The second pathway, increased food availability, can be achieved by increased shelf-life as a result from (better) packaging, preservation methods or processing, since increased shelf-life allows longer storage of vegetables and thereby keeping more of the harvest for own


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consumption. Also, increased shelf-life of vegetables will allow farmers to negotiate better prices. CARE expects to improve shelf-life of vegetables once they supply farmers with processing equipment. No results can be shown yet, since currently the project is still in the production phase. The Ministry of Agriculture stated that shelf-life of products is already increasing. One of the reasons for this is that some women dry vegetables and fruits for own consumption. Besides, local preservation methods are used. The extent to which these methods for increasing shelf-life are applied can however not be quantified, since no data at household level are available. The farmers themselves only mentioned improved vegetable seeds as a reason for increased shelf-life of vegetables. Some farmers use improved variety seeds for cabbage which results in crops with a prolonged shelf-life. For cropping tomatoes farmers prefer using plum tomato seeds, since these have a longer shelf-life as compared to normal tomatoes. Finally, processing can improve nutritional value of vegetables, for instance by using preservation methods for making vegetables or fruits with high nutrient contents available throughout the year. This last pathway does not impact the nutritional status of farmers in Koinadugu as no methods for improving nutritional value of vegetables are presently applied in the district.


That hardly any impact of processing can be seen so far, does not imply that there are no entry points for improving nutrition through processing or packaging. Farmers are willing to process vegetables, since they know this will increase the price they can get. NGOs are now also getting involved in processing of other crops besides rice (e.g. CARE is supporting farmers in processing groundnuts); some of these organisation are looking into possibilities for processing of vegetables.



added value



shelf-life


status

?

?

?


value of produce

?

?

?

Figure 7: Potential pathways linking processing/packaging of vegetables to improved nutrition


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A first entry point is to process tomatoes into tomato paste or for drying of vegetables. The latter is already occurring at small scale for home consumption, but can be scaled up. Both these processing methods do not enhance the nutritional value of vegetables, but increase shelf-life and can result in a higher price that farmers get for their vegetables due to value addition. To get involved in processing farmers need to have access to proper processing equipment. There are two ways by which this access to processing equipment can be achieved. Farmers can be supplied with processing equipment by NGOs or the government. CARE is planning to supply farmers with processing equipment and already made budget available for doing so. Another way is to work through organisations of farmers in FBO’s,ABC’s or FarmerFieldSchoolswhich allows for jointly purchasing of processing equipment. It is important to use common materials for processing equipment as this will increase the use of this equipment (as farmers are already familiar with the materials) and will allow smallholders to construct and repair this equipment locally. Together with providing equipment, farmers should be trained on how to use this equipment and how to maintain hygiene during processing. If farmers are trained in proper processing methods this will increase the shelf-life. A second entry point relates to hygiene. The currently used local equipment is mostly not hygienic. Proper and more hygienic processing equipment could increase quality and shelf-life of the end products and will reduce contamination. Proper local drying equipment is already being used by some women according to the Ministry of Agriculture. This equipment does not require electricity since solar systems are used. So interventionsaimed at increased drying of vegetables with proper and hygienic equipment targeting women have potential for scaling up. A third possibility is for farmer groups to sell vegetables in bulk to a processor or factory at a higher price as compared to market prices.This opportunity is especially valid if access to processing equipment for farmers is not achievable.It allows farmers to sell all vegetables without spoilage and without having to get involved into processing themselves. Such factories for processing vegetables do not exist yet, but NGOs mentioned the existence of commercial mango factories that buy mangoes in bulk from farmers to make juice. These farmers get a higher price for their mangoes than they would get in the market and are able to sell all of their harvest at once. This could also be implemented for processing tomatoes into tomato paste for instance, especially if the private sector is involved in setting up such a factory. A final entry point identified is the provision of cool rooms at community level. Such cool rooms allow farmers to cool their vegetables until vehicles for transport to the market are available. Also, the provision of cool rooms in the community does not only increase shelf-life of vegetables as such, but also allows farmers to keep vegetables for processing instead of immediate selling. However, transport is not cooled, so it might bebetter to situate cool rooms close to the market (Freetown) where the surplus is situated.


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4.2.5 Nutrition impact of small-scale commercial vegetable/fruit production: marketing-related pathway

Characteristics of the marketing component

Smallholder farmers involved in small scale commercial vegetable production sell their harvest at various markets. The main ‘markets’ that are used for selling vegetables are listed in Table 2. Table 2 also describes the farmers that access these markets, the marketing format, the relative distance, and key constraints faced by farmers in accessing these markets.

Table2: Overview of markets accessed by small-scale commercial vegetable farmers

Main markets Usage Group or individual

sales

Distance Main constraints

Wholesalers in Freetown

All farmers Both Far High spoilage rates and transport costs

Wholesalers dictate the price

Freetown market

All farmers Both Far No access to cooled storage facilities

High costs (fees, transport, etc.)

Luma markets* Mostly men Mostly individual

Moderate No access to cooled storage facilities

High costs (fees, transport, etc.)

Local traders Mostly women

Individual Close (farm gate)

Traders dictate the price and do not always pay immediately

International traders**

Men and women

Mostly individual

Variable Traders dictate the price

Unclear currency rates

* i.e. periodic markets in cities like Kabala, Makeni, Bo, Kenema. Each operates one day per week.

** Mainly from Guinea and Liberia; these traders buy at farm gate as well as at periodic markets.

In all selected communities both men and women stated that they are involved in selling of vegetables. They both have access to all these markets and for all markets it is possible to sell individually or in groups, which is also both occurring. There are a lot of (legitimized) farmer based organisations in the district; these are mainly involved in group selling, but some farmers in these FBO’s might still sell a share of their harvest individually. Farmers who are not part of a farmers group sell all their vegetables individually. Sales to local traders is mostly done individually by women. The Luma markets are mostly used by men for individual sales. This seems to indicate that women sell more locally. However, the largest share of the vegetables is sold in Freetown by men as well as women. In one of the communities (Koromasilaia) it was mentioned that group trade is only used for selling vegetables to wholesalers and traders; at the markets farmers sell their vegetables individually.


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The largest share of the harvest is sold; on average farmers indicated that 80% of the harvest is sold and 20% is used for own consumption. In Senekedugu community, women even indicated that 100% of the yield was sold and none of the vegetables were used for own consumption. In Sulimanaia community, members indicated that the proportion of yield that is sold varies between crops. For some crops all yield is sold (e.g. lettuce), while for others up to 50% is kept for own consumption (e.g. carrots). Most of the income from selling vegetables is obtained from May to January. Especially May, June, December and January are good months for selling vegetables. In Senekedugu, men indicated that more income is obtained during the dry season (November-April), since at this time there will be a scarcity of vegetables as not all farmers are producing at that time; this will lead to higher prices and subsequently more income from selling vegetables. The main challenges that farmers face in terms of marketing are lack of transport, bad infrastructure, lack of storage facilities and bad pricing. Lack of transport facilities and remoteness of the area make it difficult to get vegetables to the market. Besides, the poor road network combined with a lack of good conveying material result in high spoilage rates. Especially since most of the vegetables are sold in Freetown, so distance and time for transport are long. The lack of cooled storage facilities at markets also contributes to high spoilage rates. These high spoilage rates subsequently lead to less income, since not all harvest can be sold. The lack of cooled storage also causes a bad bargaining position for farmers, since they have no choice but to sell their vegetables immediately when they get to Freetown to avoid high spoilage rates. Therefore, prices are dictated by wholesalers or traders. Another reason that most vegetables are sold to wholesalers or traders instead of selling products at the markets is that the latter involves a lot of costs. Farmers have to pay market fees, pay for storage if there is surplus at the end of the day and pay for accommodation if vegetables are sold in Freetown.

Nutritional impact of the marketing component

The pathway through which marketing can have impact on nutrition is through increased income, if this income is used for purchasing high nutritional value food products. Increased income from the sales of vegetables can be achieved in two ways, namely by selling more vegetables and/or by obtaining better prices for the vegetables sold. Most of the harvest for vegetables is being sold and not used for own consumption. The income derived from selling vegetables is partly used for purchasing other food products.


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Vegetable production as such already provides more income as compared to other crops, since prices that farmers get for vegetables are higher as compared to other crops. However, farmers do not necessarily have a higher income if they are producing vegetables instead of other crops, as farmers indicated that a large share of the harvest goes to waste. According to the Ministry of Agriculture the price farmers get for their vegetables has increased over the last decade, since farmers are now organised via FBO’s and can better dictate the price themselves. Besides, the Ministry supplied one farmer group with a cool room for storage of the vegetables, so these farmers are less dependent on immediate selling to wholesalers.

However, some organisations like CARE and FAO) as well as the farmers themselves stated that changes in price are only minimal. Training of VSL-groups (Village Savings and Loans) in business management by CARE makes farmers more skilled in business and price negotiation. However, prices are still mainly determined by wholesalers due to their monopoly position in the market. The impact of cool rooms on price could not be determined, since none of the selected communities was provided with a cool room. It is expected that farmers that do have access to cool rooms get better prices for their vegetables, since cooling will increase

shelf-life of vegetables and decrease spoilage. The actual impact of these cool rooms could however not be checked at household level due to lack of data. The overall household income did increase over the last decade according to some of the selected communities. All communities stated that selling vegetables highly contributes to their overall household income; this varied from 60 to 80%. In two of the selected communities the income derived from selling vegetables is controlled by men. This might have a negative effect on food availability, as it is known that income controlled by women is more used for buying food as compared to income controlled by men. In the other two communities both men and women stated that they solely control the income. This could be due to the fact that most households are polygamous in these communities, which implies that men have about 3 wives. The women subsequently have to take care of their children themselves, since the husband cannot earn enough money to take care of all his wives and children. In these households women mostly tell the men how much they have earned, but they keep the money themselves. This could give both men and women the idea of being in control. As stated above, most of the harvest is sold. The income derived from selling these vegetables is mainly used for buying food, paying school fees, medical expenses, construction and repairing of buildings, buying farm inputs, hiring labour and domestic purposes. In the two communities where men controlled the income by far the largest share was used for buying food (60-70%); in the two communities where both men and women claimed to control the income this was about 30-60%. Reason for this could be that polygamous families are bigger, so more money for school fees and clothing is required. As not all of the income from vegetable production is used for buying other food the quantity of food available for the households of smallholder farmers will be lower.


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The main foods that are bought with the income derived from vegetables are rice, fish, cassava, palm oil, groundnuts and condiments. These are the traditional foods in Sierra Leone. Selling of vegetables thus does not translate into a more diversified or nutritious diet. Some farmers even stated that their diet is less diverse as compared to previous years as a result of food scarcity and increased food prices. These increased food prices also result in less food that can be bought for the same amount of income. So even though increased production might have resulted in higher income, this still does not lead to improved food access and thereby improved nutritional status. The net effect of increased food prices on ability to purchase sufficient food was difficult to quantify for the farmers.

Entry points for improved nutrition

From the key informant interviews as well as the focus group discussions, also opportunities for improving marketing and thereby improving the income of farmers have been identified. This increase in income can be used for purchasing nutritious foods. Improved income can be achieved through several pathways. The main entry points are improved infrastructure, access to transport facilities, access to a closer market, access to proper storage facilities and better bargaining position for farmers. Firstly, due to bad infrastructure and lack of transport facilities it takes very long for farmers to get their vegetables to the market. Combined with a lack of good conveying material this will result in high spoilage rates during transportation. In the remote areas especially during the rainy season farmers have a lot of harvest, but there is no means of taking it to the markets, since the villages will be cut off due to flooded roads. Farmers should thus have easier access to transport facilities and the road network should be improved. Good conveying material would allow farmers to transport there vegetables in a proper way and reduce the high spoilage rates. Secondly, access to a closer market will help farmers to cut down on spoilage experienced during and expenses for transportation. When farmers do not have to transport their vegetables all the way to Freetown, the distance and time for transport will both decrease resulting in lower costs and less spoilage. This way, farmers can sell more of their harvest and acquire more income. Besides, less expenses have to be made before selling these vegetables, which results in higher profit. The fact that Koinadugu is known for its

+ -

Marketing Increased income from the sale of



status

Figure 8: Potential pathways linking marketing of vegetables to improved nutrition


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vegetables results in traders coming in from all over the country, so there is a market for vegetables in the district itself. Thirdly, affordable cooled storage facilities at the market would allow farmers to produce more and retail the vegetables themselves for a better price instead of immediate wholesale to business men in the city. The MAFFS and some NGOS’s have already built some cooled storage facilities close to the market in Freetown, but the rent for these stores is very high. The Rural and Private Sector Development project of MAFS has provided the Kabala Women’s Association with a cool room of their own. Different NGOs are now also focusing on marketing aspects and promote cooperation of farmers in groups to increase their negotiation power (ACDI/VOCA, CARE). Training of farmers in negotiation skills combined with access to cooled storage can increase bargaining power of farmers and increase the price they can get for their vegetables. Finally, probably the most effective entry point for improved nutrition status through increased income would be to encourage farmers to buy more nutritious foods from their income instead of only staple foods.


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CHAPTER 5: CONCLUDING REMARKS This research report has looked at both the nutritional impact of rice value chain development and small-scale commercial vegetable production on smallholder producers and their families and the potential entry points for improving nutrition. A qualitative approach was adopted for studying agriculture and nutrition linkages along the value chain. This research has identified various pathways through which rice and vegetable production initiatives could contribute towards improving nutritional intake and status. These include:

- increased food availability for own consumption through improved production;

- increased availability of a diversity of foods through crop diversification (especially for vegetable production);

- increased income from the sale of agricultural commodities as a result of improved added value;

- improved shelf-life (availability) and stability of supply (better prices/more income) as a result of processing/packaging;

- improved nutritional value of the produce through processing/packaging; and

- increased income from the sale of agricultural commodities.

In spite of the potentiality ofrice value chain development and small-scale commercial vegetable production to improve nutrition, this research found little evidence of positive changes in the nutritional intake among smallholders involved in rice and vegetable production. In particular in the case of rice, the various pathways linking rice value chain development to improved nutrition have not realized a significant change in the nutrition intake and status (Figure 9).While overall rice production has increased, the availability of food/rice for own consumption at household level has not substantially increased as most rice is sold and household sizes have increased. Diets, based on mainly rice, palm oil, cassava leaves and sweet potato leaves and other greens, largely remain unchanged. The introduction of short duration varieties has allowed other crops to be grown after harvest but these crops are mostly starchy stables and thus do not introduce the required micronutrients to the diet. Further, the income generated from selling rice, which is mostly controlled by men, has not been translated into improved nutrition. Most of the income is used for non-food expenses and main food items purchased comprise rice and palm oil rather than high nutritional value products as these are often too expensive for smallholders, not widely available at the local market and do not form part of the traditional diet. Further, recent increases in food prices have reduced the actual purchasing powers of smallholders. The research itself did not look specifically into the impact of rising food prices on smallholder’s income and expenditure patterns and its consequence for nutrition and hence further research is required. The only clear nutritional impact along the rice value chain that was identified in this study is related to processing. Due to parboiling, the nutritional quality of rice improves by increasing the amount of starch, magnesium, and B vitamins. Parboiling is now widely practised in Sierra Leone and parboiled rice constitutes a substantial proportion of local rice in the market.


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Figure 9: Actual pathways linking rice value chain development interventions to nutrition in the context of Sierra Leone



value of produce

Increased income


consumption

-

Rice value chain development

+

+

- Only a small proportion is kept for home-consumption (most of the produce is sold)

- Household sizes have increased and smallholders are constrained by labour and finances to expand cultivation

Improved production and added-value (milling) has yielded in higher income

Due to parboiling

Due to short duration varieties farmers are able to cultivate two crops a season

+

+


status

-

-

Poor diets remain largely unchanged

- Additional income is used for purchasing rice rather than high nutritional value products

- Not all income is used for food purchase

- Increased food prices have resulted in reduced food access from income

-

- The additional crops cultivated comprise mainly starchy staples

Increase in micronutrients


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Also in the case of small-scale commercial vegetable production the potential pathways have not greatly contributed to an improvement in the nutrition intake and status of smallholders involved in vegetable production (Figure 10).Vegetable production has increased, however, the actual availability of vegetables for own consumption is low as most of the produce is sold. Further, most smallholders do not process vegetables to improve its shelf-life and waste levels are high due to lack of proper storage facilities. The inclusion of vegetables in the daily dietary pattern is limited as smallholder families prefer their traditional diets. Also, women and men tend to lack knowledge on how to prepare many of the vegetables grown and are insufficiently aware of their nutritional value. Further, poor preparation of the local vegetables leads to losses of important micronutrients. Smallholders involved in vegetable production have experienced an increase in income derived from vegetables, however, this has not been translated into improved nutrition. Most income is used for non-food items and the food items purchased comprise mainly rice, palm oil and condiments rather than high-nutritional value products. The research did not find evidence concerning the control of income from vegetables and its role in improving nutrition. Depending on whether vegetables are cultivated by women’s groups or on an individual basis and whether households are polygamous or monogamous, respectively women and men tend to control income and further research is needed to explore more the role of income control for nutrition improvement. In summary, agriculture interventions like rice value chain development and small-scale commercial vegetable production focus predominantly on the production and income side of the smallholder value chain and clearly this is insufficient to improve the nutrition intake and status. While the initiatives have contributed to improved production and especially income, this has not been translated into improved nutrition intake and status. Partly this is because nutritional considerations are not an integral part of these interventions and partly because it takes time to change behaviour. Despite the limited impact on nutrition intake and status some entry points for nutrition improvement were identified. These include:

- Incorporate nutrition education and communication strategies along the value chain that target behaviour change in order to equip male and female smallholders with knowledge about the nutritional significance of the foods they produce and purchase and to enable them to make better production and consumption decisions.

- Improve knowledge of men and women on safe and nutritious preparation of vegetables when providing vegetable seeds.

- To prevent distress sale of rice and to allow both rice and vegetable farmers to buy sufficient farm inputs in time for the planting season, strengthen existing credit initiatives and include requirements related to maternal and child preventive health, care services or school enrolment.


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- Expand school gardening programmes to stimulate children in learning how to grow and prepare vegetables and about the nutritional value of these crops.

- Initiate and scale-up processing of vegetables to enhance its added value and shelf-life.

- Promote and support improved methods of parboiling of rice and possible fortification of rice with micronutrients such as iron and zinc during the parboiling process.

Overall, for agricultural interventions like rice value chain development and small-scale commercial vegetable production to achieve greater impacts on nutritional outcomes, nutrition considerations should be incorporated throughout the project cycle. This means amongst others a greater focus on enabling improved year-round production of nutritious foods, improving micro-nutrient quality of cultivated crops and food items, enhancing the shelf-life and bioavailability of micronutrients through processing, implementation of effective promotional and educational strategies to address poor dietary quality and related micro-nutrient deficiencies, and empowering women to make informed decisions on feeding and caring practices. To do so agricultural and health actors should closely collaborate during the planning and implementation phase to support smallholders not only as producers but also as consumers. Further, agriculture and health actors should jointly develop nutrition indicators along the value chain that are easy to use and guide both sectors in addressing nutrition through agriculture.


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Figure 10: Actual pathways linking small-scale commercial vegetable production to nutrition in the context of Sierra Leone

Small-scale commercial vegetable

production



value of produce


status

Increased income


consumption

+/-

+/-

+

-

+

? ?

+/-

- Only a small proportion is kept for home-consumption (most of the produce is sold)

- Only few smallholders are processing vegetables to improve shelf-life

- Only a small proportion is consumed ( partly due to short shelf-life)

- Adding vegetables to the dietary pattern improves the nutrition intake, however poor food preparation leads to losses of important micronutrients

Improved production has yielded in higher income

- Additional income is used for purchasing rice, palm oil and condiments rather than high nutritional value products.

- Increased food prices have resulted in reduced food access from income

Most smallholders are not (yet) involved in processing of vegetables

Smallholders are stimulated to grow different crops Only few

vegetables are consumed due to lack of knowledge on how to prepare newly introduced vegetables


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biofortification?" Plant and Soil 302(1-2): 1-17. FEWS NET (2010). Livelihoods zoning “plus” activity in Sierra Leone: A special report by the

famine early warning system network (FEWS NET). Washington, D.C.: USAID. Haddad, L (2010). From HarvestPlus to Harvest Driven: "How to Realize the Elusive Potential

of Agriculture for Nutrition?"paper presented at First Global Conference on Biofortification, Washington D.C (9-11 November).

Lahai B, Sannoh IJ, et al.(2006). Republic of Sierra Leone, 2004 Population and Housing

Census. Analytical Report on Agriculture, UNFPA, SSL, EU. Prom-u-thai C, Glahn RP, et al.(2009). "The bioavailability of iron fortified in whole grain

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Dehulled Rice (Oryza sativa L.) at Soft and Hard Dough Stages." Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism 55: 384-384.

Settle W and Garba MH (2011). "Sustainable crop production intensification in the Senegal

and Niger River basins of francophone West Africa." International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 9(1): 171-185.

Tanumihardjo, S. A. (2010). "Taking stock of evidence on biofortification of food crops with

provitamin A carotenoids: Situation analysis of what we know."First Global Conference on Biofortification. Symposia Brief, Washington D.C. , HarvestPlus.

WHO(2008). World Health Organization: "World Health Statistics." Retrieved 15.3.2011,

2011, from http://www.who.int/countries/sle/en/. Wiegers, E.S., M. van Dorp and S. Torgenson (2011). "Improving Nutrition through

Agriculture: Viewing agriculture_nutrition linkages along the smallholder value chain". Wageningen / Rome: Centre for Development Innovation, Wageningen University & Research centre (CDI) /REACH.

http://www.who.int/countries/sle/en/


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Annex 1: Questionnaire key informant interview (agriculture oriented organisations)

Date: Name Interviewer: Name/organisation/position of interviewee:

* INTRODUCE FACILITATORS AND RECORD KEEPERS * INTRODUCE TOPIC OF RESEARCH * LET INTERVIEWEES KNOW THE ANTICIPATED LENGTH OF THE DIALOGUE

General introduction: Agriculture has a crucial role to play in improving nutrition, but the persistence of malnutrition as a global public health concern makes clear that alleviating poor nutrition cannot be solved merely from agriculture or health/nutrition alone but requires better linking of the two sectors. REACH (Ending Child Hunger and Undernutrition) aims to reduce child undernutrition through both the health/nutrition and agriculture sector. In Sierra Leone REACH collaborates with Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR), the Sierra Leone Agriculture Research Institute (SLARI), Njala University, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MHS), and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS) in an agriculture-nutrition research initiative aiming at identifying food/agriculture-based interventions that contribute to improved nutrition and that have potential for scaling up in the context of Sierra Leone. For this purpose the smallholder-farmer value chain approach will be used, which is split up in four main steps, production, processing/packaging, marketing and demand side issues, like nutrition education. Besides, we will focus on the nutrition and health impact of interventions and activities related to each of these steps. This interview is comprised of five topics, and will take about an hour and a half of your time. Topic 1: Actors and interventions Goal of this first topic is to identify the actors and interventions related to rice value chain development or small-scale commercial vegetable production initiatives (including production, processing/packaging and marketing). Explain to interviewees: The first set of questions should give a general overview of the interventions related to the rice value chain development or small-scale commercial vegetable production initiatives that the NGO is currently involved in.

1. What are your activities related to rice value chain development and/or small-scale

commercial vegetable production in terms of improving production,


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processing/packaging, marketing and health promotion? (e.g. input provision,

training, machinery, etc.)

2. What are the objectives of these activities?

3. Who are you targeting?

4. Which type of farmers or households is actually participating? (men/women,

rich/poor, etc.)

5. Are these farmers organised in ABC’s or FBO’s?

6. What is the estimated proportion of participating households among households in

target area?

7. What priority actions are being taken by your organization to ensure women are

actively involved?

8. What are the challenges and opportunities you face in terms of improving

a. Production

b. Processing / packaging

c. Marketing

Topic 2: Production Goal of this topic is to identify possible effects of interventions by looking at changes in crop production over the last decade. Thereby the current production situation and related challenges and opportunities need to be identified. In terms of rice varieties the main interest is in whether improved or local seeds are used and what type of rice is produced, not in the name of the variety as such. Explain to interviewees: The following questions will focus on the first step in the smallholder farmer value chain: production. We want to identify changes in production over time, the current situation and how your organisation is involved in production activities by means of ongoing interventions in this area.

1. What have been the general changes in rice/vegetable production over the last

decade? (in terms of total production, yield, varieties, policies and reasons)

2. What are the main varieties (improved or not, type of rice)/ vegetables that are

produced?

3. What are the main challenges and opportunities related to production? (inputs,

varieties, knowledge)


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Topic 3: Processing / packaging Again identify the current processing situation and opportunities for improvement. Thereby, identify the interventions related to processing that are currently being carried out and their characteristics, challenges and opportunities. Explain to interviewees: The second step in the value chain that we want to address is processing and packaging. Again we are interested in the activities that are currently performed by famers and the involvement of your organisation. Also we want to identify challenges and opportunities for improvement.

1. Which processing activities are already performed by the farmers?

2. And what are opportunities for improvement?

3. How do you support farmers in these?

4. In case of providing processing equipment, to whom do you provide these?

(men/women, groups/individuals, poor/rich, etc.)

5. What are the constraints? (in terms of access, maintenance, etc.)

6. What types of equipment/machineries are you using in supporting processing

activities?

7. How does this affect the nutritional value of the produce?

8. What are opportunities for improving nutritional value, quality and shelf-life of the

products?

9. Which food processing and preservation activities can be scaled-up?

Topic 4: Marketing This topic aims to get an overview of all the markets related to the rice value chain development or small-scale vegetable production that are used in the area. Besides, challenges and opportunities related to marketing need to be identified, like market access, distress sale, etc. Explain to interviewees: For the following step in the value chain, marketing, we would like to identify the characteristics of the main markets in the area. We are also interested in the main challenges and opportunities that farmers face in different aspects marketing. Finally, we would like to get some information on distress sale.

1. What are the main markets that farmers have access to, including P4P?

a. How do these operate?

b. What prices do they offer?

c. When do they operate?

d. What is the average distance to the markets for farmers?

e. What are the main challenges and opportunities?

2. Who has access to these markets? (men/women, poor/rich, etc.)

3. What are the main access constraints?

4. What is the main mode of accessing markets, is this on individual basis or in groups?


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a. What are some of the main challenges and opportunities?

b. In case of group marketing, who is included and who is excluded?

5. What are the major constraints for farmers in marketing their produce?

6. What are opportunities for improving marketing of rice/vegetables? (e.g. in terms of

access, price negotiation, storage, transport, waste reduction)

7. Distress sale

a. To what extend does distress sale occur?

b. What are the main reasons for distress sale?

c. What can be done to overcome distress sale?

d. Who decides on prices and required quality of the produce?

Topic 5: Nutrition impact The aim of the last topic is to identify the linkages between the stages in the supply chain described above and the effects on nutritional status of the population. The main pathways via which nutrition impact could be achieved have already been identified for each of the steps in the value chain. Explain to interviewees: Now we would like to identify the impact of the interventions and activities by your organisation on the nutritional status of the population. Several pathways via which this nutritional impact could be achieved have been identified and will be addressed. Finally, we are also interested in any ongoing collaboration between your organisation and nutrition and/or health oriented organisations.

1. How do the activities and initiatives of your organisation in the area of rice value

chain development/small-scale commercial vegetable production (production,

processing/packaging, marketing aspects) contribute to improved nutrition status, in

terms of:

a. Changes in price of the products

b. Changes in availability for home consumption

c. Changes in crop diversification

d. Changes in dietary pattern

e. Changes in shelf-life

f. Changes in nutritional value of the products

g. Changes in household income, especially income controlled by women

h. Other

i. Attribution of these changes to programme initiative

2. What are possible entry points for improving nutrition within the rice value chain

development/vegetable value chain?

a. Opportunities for improving production / food availability

b. Opportunities for diversifying crops

c. Opportunities for improving dietary pattern


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d. Opportunities for processing and packaging (e.g. price, shelf-life, nutritional

value)

e. Opportunities for improving income, especially women’s income

f. Opportunities for nutrition/health awareness and education

3. Are you currently working with nutrition and health oriented organisations?

4. If so, what does this collaboration consist of and what is the impact on the

nutritional status of the target group?

5. If not, what is the reason for not collaborating


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Annex 2: Questionnaire key informant interview (nutrition and health oriented organisations)

Date: Name Interviewer: Name/organisation/position of interviewee:

* INTRODUCE FACILITATORS AND RECORD KEEPERS * INTRODUCE TOPIC OF RESEARCH * LET INTERVIEWEES KNOW THE ANTICIPATED LENGTH OF THE DIALOGUE

General introduction Agriculture has a crucial role to play in improving nutrition, but the persistence of malnutrition as a global public health concern makes clear that alleviating poor nutrition cannot be solved merely from agriculture or health/nutrition alone but requires better linking of the two sectors. REACH (Ending Child Hunger and Undernutrition) aims to reduce child undernutrition through both the health/nutrition and agriculture sector. In Sierra Leone REACH collaborates with Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR), the Sierra Leone Agriculture Research Institute (SLARI), Njala University, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MHS), and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS) in an agriculture-nutrition research initiative aiming at identifying food/agriculture-based interventions that contribute to improved nutrition and that have potential for scaling up in the context of Sierra Leone. For this purpose the smallholder-farmer value chain approach will be used, which is split up in four main steps, production, processing/packaging, marketing and demand side issues, like nutrition education. Besides, we will focus on the nutrition and health impact of interventions and activities related to each of these steps. This interview is comprised of two topics, and will take about one hour of your time. Topic 1: Actors and interventions related to nutrition and health promotion Goal of this first topic is to identify the actors and interventions related to nutrition and health promotion. Explain to interviewees: The first set of questions should give a general overview of the interventions related to nutrition and health promotion that the NGO is currently involved in.

1. What are the main nutritional problems and health challenges in the target area?

2. What is the sanitation and education situation of the target population?

3. What are your activities in relation to nutrition improvement and health promotion?

4. What are the objectives of these activities?

5. Who are you targeting?


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6. What priority actions are being taken by your organization to ensure also men and

the community itself are actively involved?

7. Explain what key messages are communicated during these promotional activities?

8. What has been the impact of these messages? Are they adopted by the target

population?

9. If not, what are the main reasons?

10. What activities are directly targeting improving nutrition in the critical window of

opportunity, the first 1000 days?

11. What are some of the main issues in terms of intra-household allocation of food in

the target area?

12. What are the challenges and opportunities you face in improving nutritional status

and health?

Topic 2: Nutrition impact The aim of the last topic is to identify how the activities of this organisation contribute to an improved nutrition or health status. Besides, ongoing collaborations with agriculture oriented organisations in the area need to be identified. Explain to interviewees: Now we would like to identify the impact of the interventions and activities by your organisation on the nutritional and/or health status of the population. Finally, we are also interested in any ongoing collaboration between your organisation and agriculture oriented organisations.

1. How do the activities and initiatives of your organisation contribute to improved

nutrition status? Please explain.

2. Are you currently working with agriculture oriented organisations?

3. If so, what does this collaboration consist of and how does this enhance the

nutritional status of the target group?

4. If not, what is the reason for not collaborating?

5. What are opportunities for integrating nutrition aspects in ongoing agriculture

activities, especially in the rice and vegetable value chains (e.g. production,

processing/packaging, marketing)?


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Annex 3: Questionnaire focus group discussion Date: Community: Number participants and type of participants:

* INTRODUCE FACILITATORS AND RECORD KEEPERS

* INTRODUCE TOPIC OF RESEARCH

* LET PARTICIPANTS KNOW THE ANTICIPATED LENGTH OF THE DIALOGUE

* ALL EXAMPLES GIVEN BETWEEN BRACKETS SHOULD NOT IMMEDIATELY BE GIVEN, BUT

ONLY USED FOR PROBING IN CASE OF NO OR LIMITED RESPONSE

Topic 1: Livelihood strategies/income sources Explain to the participants you would like to discuss the livelihood strategies that are used in the community. Draw a matrix(without examples!) on a flipchart or on the ground. Start with 10 rows and 6 columns but explain that more can be added, if necessary.

Income source Income earner Income control Rank

(examples) Men Women Men Women (importance)

Rice

Vegetables

Goats

Other empl.

Then ask the following questions and write the answers in the matrix. Don’t start with the second questions until the participants are satisfied they have listed all important income sources.

1) What are the main income sources for men and women?

2) For each income source, who controls this income?

3) What is the importance of each income source in relation to the overall household

income?

Topic 2: External support/interventions Explain to the participants that you want to identify which types of organisations that are operating in their community and their activities. This can be interventions, farmer based organisations, food aid, etc. Ask them the following questions and make notes of the answers. If a matrix is indicated above a set of questions, this should be drawn on a flipchart and used to note down the answers.


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1) What type of interventions is implemented in your community in terms of

production, processing/packaging and marketing?

2) From which organisations do you receive this support?

Use this matrix for questions 3 to 6. First list all answers before proceeding to the next question.

Type of organisation Activities Participants Benefits

3) What type of farmer-based organisations is operating in your community?

4) What are their main activities?

5) Who are participating?

6) What are their benefits?

For the next three question, note down the answers on the summary sheets.

7) What type of nutrition education and health support programmes are ongoing in the

community?

8) From which organisation?

9) What food assistance is provided within your community and to whom? (school

feeding, food for work, food for training, other food aid)

Topic 3: Production Explain to the participants that you want to discuss the production of rice / vegetables. All questions thus only apply to the production of rice / vegetables and not to other crops. Use this matrix for questions 1 and 2. First list all varieties / vegetables before proceeding to the constraints. The second column only has to be filled in for rice.

Variety / vegetable Only for rice Average yield

Improved / local Type (e.g. parboiled)

1) What are the main varieties (improved/local, type of rice) / vegetables produced?

2) What are the average yields?

Write down the answer to the next questions on the summary sheet.

3) Are there changes in yields during the last years and what are reasons for this?

4) What inputs are used in production? (fertilizer, chemicals, improved seeds)

5) What are constraints women and men face in accessing these inputs?

6) What are the three main production constraints and opportunities?


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Topic 4: Processing Explain to the participants that you want to discuss the processing activities that are done for rice / vegetables. All questions thus only apply to the production of rice / vegetables and not to other crops. Write down the answer to these questions on the summary sheet. The second question only applies to the rice value chain development.

1) What are the main processing and packaging activities that take place?

2) Rice: Which share of the harvest is normally processed (before selling)?

3) What are the main challenges you face in processing (for example transport,

access/use constraints, waste, packaging and labelling materials)?

Topic 5: Marketing Explain to the participants that you want to discuss the marketing activities that are carried out for rice / vegetables. All questions thus only apply to the production of rice / vegetables and not to other crops. Use this matrix for questions 1 to 3. First list all markets before proceeding to the other questions.

Main markets

Access Challenges Opportunities

Men Women Group/ individual

Other

1) What are the main markets, including traders, P4P, local markets?

2) Who has access to these markets? (men/women, groups/individuals)

3) What are the challenges and opportunities for each of these markets?

Write down the answer to the next questions on the summary sheet. Question 5 only applies to the small-scale commercial vegetable production.

4) What proportion of the yield is being sold? What proportion is used for own

consumption

5) Vegetables: what end products are mainly being sold?

6) During which period of the year do you get income from rice/vegetable production?

7) Distress sale rice:

a. Is most of this rice sold before or after processing?

b. What are the reasons for selling before processing?

c. What are opportunities to overcome this?


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Topic 6: Nutrition impact of rice/vegetable chain Explain to the participants that you want to discuss their dietary pattern, the availability of food to the household and the income from rice / vegetable production throughout the year, so for the dry as well as the wet season. Dietary pattern Write down the answer to the first question on the summary sheet.

1) What are the main foods consumed during the dry/wet season?

Use this matrix for question 2.

Age Foods

0 – 6 months

0 – 12 months

1 to 2 years

2) What foods are given to children?

a. 0 – 6 months

b. 6 – 12 months

c. 1 to 2 years

Write down the answer to the next questions on the summary sheet.

3) What have been changes in food consumption over the last 3 years?

4) What are the main reasons for these changes? (e.g. purchasing, diversification, food

aid)

5) If no changes to the dietary pattern took place, what are the main reasons? What

prevents people from improving their diet?

Food availability Write down the answer to the next questions on the summary sheet.

1) Over the last 3 years what are the changes in the amount of food available in your

household?

2) What are the reasons for this? (e.g. increased production, income, shelf-life, storage,

food aid)

3) Over the last 3 years what are the changes in the diversity of food available in your

household?

4) What are reasons for this? (diversified production, income, food-aid)


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Income Write down the answer to the next questions on the summary sheet.

1) What are the changes in the overall household income over the last 3 years?

2) What is the contribution of the rice/vegetable production to this?

3) What is the income derived from rice/vegetable production used for? (food,

education, etc.)

4) What food products do you buy from this income during the wet/dry season?

5) What is the contribution of income from rice/vegetable production to the ability to

purchase sufficient and different types of food for your household?


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Annex 4: Description of actors and interventions involved in rice value chain development

Name of organization/ institution

Objectives/ Goals Target population Intervention

ABC Development To enhance productivity of rice in line with government food security drive

To ensure communities become self-reliant

FBOs and CBOs Seed distribution to farmers

Conducting trainings to master farmers.

Monitoring and supervision of farmers to see their progress

Action Aid Create sustainable livelihoods for women

Improve seed production to increase food availability

Rural setting: Women’s groups and Activista group

Supply seeds to selected farming groups

Supply tools to women’s groups

JICA

(Japan International Cooperation Agency)

Improve productivity in rice

Improve technical production of rice

Improve self-reliance of farmers through increased productivity

Improve agricultural technical package

Inland swamp farmers at grass root level

Farmers involved in SCP

Extension workers

Support Small Holder Commercialization Program (SCP)

Dissemination of technical agricultural package

Developing second agricultural package which involves rice production with the use of fertilizer

MAFFS Increase production, Increase income and provide food!

Increase productivity on land

Supply farmers with seeds matching their ecology

Individual farmers as well as FBOs

Provide farmers with tractors

Monitoring and supervision of various programs in agriculture e.g. Nerica, PVS, SCP


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NERICA

(New Rice for Africa)

Supply farmers with seeds matching their ecology and preference

Farmers Supplies selected seeds to farmers

PVS

(Participatory Variety Selection Plots)

Research on new varieties Farmers Conduct farm trials with farmers using the new varieties of rice and some local varieties

Smallholder Commercialization Programme (SCP)

Responsible for building ABC’s FBO’s of which 15 upland &15 lowland FBOs (about 25 farmers per FBO; both men and women)

Build ABCs for farmers

Provide farm input to these farmers

Rural and Private Sector Development

To improve efficiencies along the rice value chain (Especially in production, processing & marketing)

To ensure higher benefits flow down to producers so that they improve quality of their produce and get best price for their product

To ensure farmers can function effectively as a group

To ensure farmers learn benefits of best practices to adopt

FBOs (Men & Women)

Provide improved seed varieties to farmers

Providing drying floors

Provide storage facilities

Ensure accessibility to milling machines

Linking groups with markets

Capacity building in group dynamics

Organize farmer field schools where demonstrations are carried out by extension field workers


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Note

Farmer Based Organizations (FBOs) and Community Based Organizations (CBOs)

Activista: The group is sponsored by food aid that is supplied by Action Aid. Its aim is to have a ‘hunger free’ world. The organisation develops food production programmes for groups and sensitizes farmers on how to improve food production. Activista group comprises of mainly women and the youth

PVS, SCP and Nerica are all programs operating under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security



Promoting Agriculture, Governance and the Environment (PAGE)

To ensure quality production of rice for the market

FBOs Work as the suppliers of quality rice to the WFP P4P program.

They provide trainings to farmers in order to teach them how to produce quality rice

They offer farmers grants to enable them to buy processing equipment and also transport

World Food programme (WFP)

To improve livelihoods of farmers to stimulate them to produce more

To increase farmers capability of quality rice production

Farmers recommended by supply side partners

Schools for School feeding programs

They give support such as provision of moisture meter, sewing machines, scales to farmers through PAGE

During harvest season, they give trainings on post-harvest practices

Provide food for work. Especially along palm oil producing areas. Areas where feeder roads are being built. They work alongside Sierra Leone Roads Authority

Quality check on rice provided by farmers

Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS)

To provide health care to the community

General community population

Education and sensitization in the community

At the centre there are always health education talks


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Annex 5: Description of actors and interventions involved in small-scale commercial vegetable production

Organisations that are active in supporting communities in Koindadugu are:

- Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS) Women in Agriculture and Nutrition unit

- Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS) - United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) (via MoHS) - World Food Programme (WFP) - CARE - Catholic Relief Services (CRS) - CAUSECanada - ACDI/VOCA; information on only one project could be provided

SNAP project (Sustainable Nutrition and Agriculture Promotion) - FAO; only involved in one project which is jointly implemented with MAFFS

Food Security through Commercialization of Agriculture Project - Local NGOs like:

Daindemben federation CES (Christian Extension Service) MADAM (collaborates with MAFFS and CARE) Future in Your Hands (partners with CARE)

These NGO’s not only support communities in terms of small-scale commercial vegetable production, but also in nutrition and health, sanitation and production of other crops. In the table below the objectives, target population and on-going interventions for the main NGO’s and the Ministry are listed.


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ACDI/VOCA: SNAP project

(Sustainable Nutrition

and Agriculture Promotion)

increase the productivity of farmers at household level through a FarmerFieldSchool approach

The project is currently in the production phase; SNAP aims to capture the entire value chain within two years

Farmer Field Schools

educate farmers in good case practices in agriculture

Supply of nutritious crops to farmers

Food support is provided to communities in the rainy season

Food preparation demonstrations and nutrition education will be given in the future

CARE

CAP

SADEF

Micro-finance project

Health department

Joined programme with the local NGO Future in Your Hands

Value addition by improving production and encouraging processing of the crops

This programme is in the first stage

Setting up village savings and loans groups

improve the health status of community members

Farmers

Farmers

Groups of farmers

Entire community

Women

Children

Provides farmers with training in new agricultural techniques

Supply of seeds and farm tools

Farmers have been supplied with seeds and training on cropping groundnut

Next stage: providing processing equipment and training on how to use this.

Training farmers in village savings and loans

Fund generation for investment among farmers in farm inputs and households

Implementation of Community Health Clubs which provide education for the entire community

Targeted nutrition and health education

Growth monitoring at community level


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CAUSE Canada Improving education and sanitation Communities

Schoolgoing children

Schools

Teachers

Parents

Building schools and water wells in communities

Introduction of school gardening to teach children how to grow and prepare vegetables

Education at schools on healthy diet and nutritional value of vegetables

Providing learning and teaching material

Supporting teachers in getting higher education

Education on sanitation and hygiene at schools and to parents

CRS

SILC project (Savings and Internal Lending

Community)

School gardening program

increase the purchasing power in households

Groups of community members

Schoolgoing children

Trainings to groups of community members in village savings and loans

Teaching children how to grow and prepare vegetables

Education for children and teachers on school hygiene

Food Security through Commercialization of

Agriculture

(jointly implemented by FAO and MAFFS)

improve the productivity of small-scale vegetable farmers

Farmer Field Schools

Education on agricultural aspects like new techniques, proper methodology.

Education on marketing and record keeping

Education on nutrition and food preparation

Supply of inputs like seeds, fertilizer and farm tools


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Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food

Security

‘Women in Agriculture

and Nutrition’ unit

Involvement in commercialisation of agriculture through private sector interventions

Improve and support women involvement in agriculture

Farmers with as well as without access to ABC’s

Women

Education farmers on technical agriculture

Supply of equipment (e.g. tractors on soft loans)

Registration of FBO’s

Buying seeds from ABC’s and supplying these to farmers without access to ABC’s

Monitoring impact of on-going interventions

Supply of inputs, education, women enforcement

Ministry of Health and Sanitation

to disseminate knowledge on nutrition and hygiene to the communities

Entire community (men & women are targeted)

PHU level

Children under five

food demonstrations at chiefdom levels

health talks in the communities as well as on the radio on topics like child feeding, balanced diet, communicable diseases, food preparation

Growth monitoring of children

Weekly training of local staff on food preparation

Provision of vaccinations and mosquito nets

option to accommodate four to five internship students...

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