Women farmer groups on the road to recovery in Sierra Leone
Rebuilding productive assets affected by the Ebola outbreak.
© FAO / Jaward Keifa
Thirty women groups attached to the Koinadugu Women Vegetable Farmers’ Cooperative benefited from high quality vegetable seeds of different varieties with support from FAO to enhance their production and depleted income.
The seed distribution which was done in Kabala Town, Koinadugu District in Northern Sierra Leone is part of FAO’s response to mitigate the adverse effect of the Ebola disease outbreak on the farming communities in the country, with the support of the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund (ASTF).
Movement restrictions, quarantine measures as well as ban on group activities and periodic markets temporarily imposed during the outbreak caused a major setback to the women farmers activities as most of their vegetable production got perished. This has directly affected their income and their ability to pay outstanding loans. In order to identify areas for support based on felt needs, a countrywide assessment was jointly undertaken by FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture to ascertain the impact of the outbreak on Agriculture Business Centres (ABCs) activities.