SLPP Govt. Neglects Feed Salone Agenda: *A Non-Functional Presidential Taskforce On Agriculture *Low Commitment By Government *No Statistical Data On Agriculture *Lack Of Funding
By Aruna Momoh Kargbo
It has been revealed that the Feed Salone Agenda which was trumpeted by the Bio led New Direction Administration has not been treated with the seriousness that it deserves despite the fact that it was featured among the big Five game changers of this government.
This was revealed by the recently published Performance Audit Report by Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) which examined government’s efforts in achieving food sufficiency by 2023 and the impact of climate change on agriculture.
The report revealed series of anomalies which stand as reasons for which the government failed in its drive to achieve food self-sufficiency as was promised by the Bio led SLPP Government to the people of Sierra Leone.
According to the Audit, a review of the Medium-Term National Development Plan 2019-2023 and the National Agriculture Transformation 2023 policy disclosed that provisions were made for the achievement of increasing productivity and commercialisation of the agriculture sector.
That relevant documents including policies and reports from the technical hearings on the draft budget for MAFS, minutes of budget hearings, budgets and actual allocations to confirm their alignment with the MTNDP were not provided by MoF.
That in order to increase productivity and commercialisation of the agriculture sector, the government budgeted US$148.89 million, equivalent of NLe 1,970,139,100.
“Content analysis of the Mid-term Review Report on the Implementation of the MTNDP 2019-2023 revealed inadequate budget allocation to the MAFS,” the Audit stated.
The report noted that the above was also confirmed in an interview with MAFS officials at headquarters and district levels that budget allocations are inadequate for the achievement of the target as the sector did not receive up to 10% of the annual budget.
“From a review of the climate change policy, we noted that US$800 million was spent to develop the National Agricultural Transformation Strategy (2019-2023), there was no evidence of coordination and collaboration of the working group,” the report stated.
The Audit furthered that based on the MTNDP, the MAFS was to ensure coordination at the sectoral level and collaboration with other actors in the implementation of activities. The MAFS did not provide relevant documents with regard to coordination, collaboration and communication with key stakeholders but that there was also no evidence that MoPED had carried out activities mandated in the MTNDP that linked the MDAs and local councils.
“The findings revealed non-functioning of the Presidential Task Force on Agriculture and ACT team, low commitment on the part of government as MAFS is still receiving less than 10% of the annual budget, which had a negative effect on the implementation of activities as agriculture is time bound,” the report revealed.
That from a review of MAFS’ annual progress report, it was discovered that planned activities by various divisions were not achieved due to lack of funding.
That it was also clear from the audit exercise that much has not been done by MAFS in the area of monitoring of agricultural activities noting that it was as a result of insufficient staff and logistics and untimely disbursement of funds which have hindered the achievement of food sufficiency.
“There was no evidence that MoPED designed and implemented a national monitoring and evaluation system (manuals and guidelines) that linked the MDAs and local councils. As a result, the impact of food sufficiency could not be clearly measured. Statistics Sierra Leone (SSL) could not provide any statistical data on agriculture. These problems if not properly addressed, will affect the Feed Salone agenda in 2024,” the audit emphasized.
