Sierra Leone wishes for Vietnam's enrollment in the project on improving rice farming capacity

Upon receiving the invitation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development visited and worked in Sierra Leone from February 13 to 25.

The delegation included Mr. Pham Ngoc Mau, Deputy director of the Department of International Cooperation; Mr. Dao The Anh, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture Sciences and Mr. Le Quoc Thanh, Director of the National Agricultural Extension Center.

Improving rice growing capacity

FAO is having the policy to support poor countries with food shortages in the form of South-South cooperation. FAO is the party that mobilizes resources and financial aid and seeks technical assistance and identifies beneficiary countries. At the same time, the African Development Bank (AFDB) has the policy to lend Official Development Assistance (ODA) to African countries in order to improve food production systems, especially in rice production.

For Sierra Leone, AFDB committed to a long-term support program of approximately 700 million USD. Presently, the African Development Bank has approved a loan of 5 million USD to Sierra Leone in order to improve its rice growing capacity. Furthermore, Rome FAO has assigned the Africa FAO and Sierra Leone FAO to develop the project's document and also invite Vietnam to participate.

During the trip, Sierra Leone FAO officially handed to the Vietnamese delegation the draft agreement on the implementation of the FAO - Sierra Leone - Vietnam tripartite project, together with the draft of the project's document, and asked Vietnam to sign it.

In the working session, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Mr. Abu Bakarr Karim also said that he was very impressed with Vietnam's policy and agricultural system during his visit to Vietnam in 2022. Moreover, he proposed that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam participate in the "Strengthening the rice value chain in Sierra Leone through South-South cooperation" tripartite project of FAO.

In addition, Vietnam considers that it may be possible to mobilize the private sector and send experts to participate in the online advisory group to support Minister Abu to reform Sierra Leone's agriculture.

Regarding finance, Sierra Leone's deputy minister of the Ministry of Finance Mr. Bockkarie Kalokoh directly affirmed that prioritizing financing for agricultural projects is the general policy of the Sierra Leone's president in the coming term. This will help to ensure the country's food security. 

Opportunity in entering the African market

According to the assessment of the delegation, Sierra Leone has natural conditions that are suitable for agricultural development. The country is provided with a dense river system, a tropical climate with two rainy and dry seasons. This is similar to the Long Xuyen quadrangle, the Mekong Delta.

This improving rice cultivation capacity project is the first project in which Vietnam cooperates in the South-South form, with 3 parties participating. Vietnam's participation in this project affirms and promotes that Vietnam's agricultural technology can become an export commodity to developing countries in the form of South-South cooperation, opening up agricultural science and technology's export directions.  (including the chain from irrigation infrastructure, seed production, farming machinery, agricultural materials, post-harvest preservation and processing, exporting...).

The African market can be considered very potential because our technology is suitable for them, such as low-costing, easy to apply, and at the moment, there are lots of capital investments in food security. This project will also be supervised by Vietnam's experts, technicians, and project managers to ensure sustainable success.

Sierra Leone's Minister of Agriculture and Food Security strongly believes in Vietnam and proposes to help mobilize an advisory group including agencies in state management, scientific research, and businesses to provide online consultations for the Vietnamese minister to develop Vietnam's agriculture.

Participating deeply, including not only providing agricultural services and materials but also influencing policy, in the agricultural market of this African country is very beneficial for Vietnam.

Besides, if agriculture is successful, it will be very convenient for other sectors of Vietnam to enter their market such as oil and gas, mining, wood processing, construction, and telecommunications.