SOBBA

2014 PRODUCTION NARRATIVE

 

Two months after successfully harvesting its 2013 second planting season’s yields, SOBBA immediately embarked on its plans for 2014 commencing with its management & shareholders production meeting held in January 2014.  This meeting was followed by our pre-production meeting in March with the contract farmers, labourers and seed sellers.  The preparation of land for the 2014 first season planting started in March with the target of clearing 60 hectares on land.   However, the process of securing a tractor (to plough and harrow the field) from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS) sub-branch closest to our operating sites, was so unbearably protracted to a point that we were barely able to get the field plough and harrowed during the first week of May resulting in barely 45 hectares cleared and stumped. Nevertheless, we were able to complete the planting various varieties of our three crops (maize, groundnut and cowpeas) in time to have a near perfect germination of all the crops. SOBBA also sourced from; The Sierra Leone Agricultural Research Institute (SLARI) 25 kilograms of foundation maize seed (a variety which SLARI claimed was obtained from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture-IITA) for multiplication. Groundnuts and cowpea were cultivated during the 2013 second planting seeds.

 

Two weeks after planting and before fertilizer application commenced government restricted the movement of people and banned on large gatherings including markets and other public areas to control the spread of Ebola in the country. The fertilizer application lasted for lasted for two weeks as a direct consequence of the restrictions. Despite the constraints, SOBBA ensured that properly application was adopted. To ensure that insect infestation is controlled; insecticide application was done exactly a month after planting. Insecticide application was followed immediately with weeding; which lasted an additional week than normal because of the labour constraints.  Considering the fact that the first season crop is more susceptible to insect infestation and to ensure that the seeds are treated in accordance with the SQCU guidelines, a second field spraying was conducted. Before and after each stage of our operations (besides the land clearing and stumping) SOBBA invited SLARI and The Seed Quality Control Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS) to conduct pre- and post-activity inspection.  

 

Harvesting and processing the crop was a major problem for SOBBA as the spread of Ebola became so contagious and scary that there was a dire shortage of labour. Our maize crop started to germinate on the stalks.   Even though the harvesting was extended by an additional two weeks we could not complete the harvesting of the fields. As a result, SOBBA abandoned part of the harvest of the maize and groundnut in the field because of increased labour scarcity and enforced restricted curfew hours (6am-4pm). Labour was not only scarce but costs increased by 150%. Workers were too scared to work in an uncertain environment. This situation was the same with our contract farmers who have meagre resources to sustain their daily sustenance let alone to finance production and subsequent harvest. SOBBA could not even reach some via mobile phones. With regards to our social responsibility we were not able to conduct our postharvest farmers meetings and trainings. These meetings and training have always served as an important platform for contract and non-contract farmers to share lessons learned, problems encountered, negotiate crop buyback prices, and discuss plans for the next planting season.

 

The prevailing Ebola crisis forced us to abandon our second planting season this has had a tremendous operational and financial impact on SOBBA and its contract farmers. Approximately 80% of what we and our contract farmers were able to harvest has not been sold and is currently being stored thus imposing financial strain on both SOBBA and its contract farmers.  Some of the farmers have consumed the stock due to lack of income and severe food constraints.  Since harvest, 30% of the stock have deteriorated and are facing more severe storage problems.  Our distributors are hesitant to take our seed stocks because they are apprehensive that farmers who purchase the seeds are not keen on cultivating as the fear of the disease is overwhelmingly prevalent. 

 

Our mission is to effectively contribute to the alleviation of chronic hunger, malnutrition and poverty in Sierra Leone and we are pursuing this mission by integrating with the public agricultural sector in the development, promotion and improvement of good and healthy life. As part of our corporate responsibility and in pursuit of our mission, SOBBA in collaboration with Democracy in Sierra Leone (DSL) financed and conducted a two-day (December 27-28) Ebola prevention sensitization campaign in our operating areas. The prime objective was to create a greater awareness of the devastating and debilitating effects of Ebola.  The campaign engaged 15 people (5 staff each from SOBBA and DSL and 5 SOBBA contract farmers) to conduct the sensitization. The campaign entailed moving from house to house and explaining the reality of the disease and how to prevent contacting it. As a demonstration of our sincerity and solidarity with farmers in our operating areas in this battle against this disease, we provided to 111 households in four villages (Mayeima, Kamallo, Kissy Koya and Magere in the Koya Chiefdom, Port Loko District) 200 bars of medicated bath soap and ten 50 kilograms bag of rice and three 100 kilograms bags of potatoes to be shared amongst households. Many of these farming families have lost their capacity to generate income to buy basic food items.

 

SOBBA is not despaired by the developments in the second half of 2014, rather the events have given us a heightened impetus to pursue our mission and vision that agriculture regains its prominence and ensure it as one vital vehicle for economic development and the elimination of hunger, malnutrition and poverty in Sierra Leone by 2020. These unfortunate and unforeseen events have given us a greater determination to fulfill our vision to meet the development needs of farmers and to build a set of core agricultural practices and competences needed to successfully improve the socio-economic status of communities in our farming zones.