Category: English

Source: APO – Report:

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His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has officially launched the Water Security and WASH Access Project, a landmark $180 million, World Bank-funded initiative under the theme “Securing Water, Enabling Dignity, and Advancing Development.” The 10-year Multiphase Programmatic Approach aims to reach 4 million people by 2035, achieving 90% national WASH coverage.

In his keynote address, President Bio described the launch as a historic milestone in Sierra Leone’s ongoing quest for equity, dignity, and sustainable development. He emphasized that access to safe water and sanitation is a fundamental right, not a privilege.

“My government is guided by the belief that access to safe water and sanitation is not a favour extended to the few, but a right guaranteed to all,” the President declared. “That is why WASH is at the heart of our National Development Plan and central to our Human Capital Development agenda.”

The President decried the daily challenges faced by citizens, stating that no child should have to walk miles for water before school, no mother should risk infection during childbirth due to lack of clean water, and no community should endure the indignity of open defecation or waterborne diseases in the 21st century.

He affirmed that the new WASH programme marks a decisive step to break the cycle of deprivation. Structured in three progressive phases, the initiative provides a coherent roadmap to achieving water security and sanitation access nationwide. Each phase, he assured, will be robustly monitored, implemented with transparency, and tied to incentive-based delivery mechanisms.

President Bio said the programme envisions a future where water poverty is eradicated, girls stay in school thanks to improved sanitation, health facilities are safe and functional, ecosystems are protected, and 5,000 jobs, including 2,000 for women, are created through a gender-responsive recovery.

He also announced plans to establish a Water Administration House to consolidate oversight, regulation, and coordination within the sector. The President reaffirmed his government’s support to strengthen the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, to enforce standards, attract investment, and coordinate stakeholders.

“This multiphase programmatic approach is a shining example of what is possible when national ownership meets international solidarity,” he said, adding that the project aligns with Sustainable Development Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation for All.

President Bio acknowledged the efforts of the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, the WASH sector public servants, GUMA Valley Water Company, SALWACO, EWRC, and the National Water Resources Management Agency (NWRMA), calling on all stakeholders to deliver with integrity and excellence.

“As your President, I reaffirm my full commitment to this agenda. We will ensure the programme is fully resourced and that every Sierra Leonean, in both rural hamlets and urban wards, feels the impact of this transformative investment,” he declared. “Water is not just a development commodity; it is a symbol of justice, a foundation of peace, and a building block of national resilience.”

World Bank Country Manager Dr Abdu Muwonge praised President Bio for his strong advocacy on behalf of the country, recalling how, President Bio personally made a plea in Washington for investment in Sierra Leone’s WASH sector two years ago, which, he noted, resulted in funding this transformative initiative.

Dr Muwonge urged a holistic and inclusive strategy, strengthening the capacity of sector institutions such as GUMA, SALWACO, and local councils, while calling for nationwide engagement in the stewardship of water resources.

Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Dr Sao-Kpato Hannah Max-Kyne, described the occasion as a defining moment in delivering President Bio’s development vision and called for national collaboration on implementation and the development of a clear, focused roadmap to address WASH sector challenges.

– on behalf of State House Sierra Leone.

Source: APO – Report:

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Guinea’s military authorities should credibly investigate the disappearances of two political activists, make their whereabouts known, and either charge them with a recognizable crime or release them immediately, Human Rights Watch said today.

One year ago, security forces arbitrarily detained three members of the opposition coalition National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (Front National pour la Défense de la Constitution, FNDC), Oumar Sylla (known as Foniké Menguè), Mamadou Billo Bah, and Mohamed Cissé, in Conakry, Guinea’s capital, and transferred them to an unidentified location. Human Rights Watch received credible information, confirmed by national and international media, that security forces had tortured the three men. Cissé was released on July 10, 2024, while Sylla and Bah remain missing.

“It’s been one year since Sylla and Bah went missing, and the Guinean authorities have yet to carry out a credible investigation,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Guinean authorities should thoroughly and independently investigate the disappearances and prosecute those responsible.”

The authorities have opened an investigation into the disappearance of the three men. But they have denied any responsibility and failed to acknowledge the men’s detention or disclose their whereabouts, despite requests for information by lawyers representing the men, and by international and national human rights organizations.

On July 9, 2024, dozens of soldiers, gendarmes, and armed men in civilian clothes, stormed Sylla’s home and arbitrarily detained him and the others. The security forces repeatedly beat the three political activists, then took them to the gendarmerie headquarters in Conakry, and then to an army camp on Kassa island, off Conakry’s coast.

The FNDC has been calling for the restoration of democratic rule in Guinea following a military coup in September 2021. In August 2022, Guinea’s junta, headed by Gen. Mamady Doumbouya, dissolved the FNDC on politically motivated grounds, but it has continued its activities.

On the morning of his disappearance, Sylla, who is the FNDC coordinator, had urged his supporters to go out and protest on July 11, 2024, against media shutdowns by the authorities and the high cost of living.

Sylla was one of a number of people arrested in 2022 on charges of “illegal protest and destruction of public and private buildings” following violent demonstrations in Conakry in which at least five people were killed. Bah, the FNDC outreach coordinator, was previously arrested in January 2023 on charges of “complicity in the destruction of public and private property, assault, and battery” for taking part in protests. Both were released in May 2023 and cleared of all charges.

Since taking power, the junta has suspended independent media outlets, arbitrarily arrested and forcibly disappeared journalists and political opponents. Security forces have used excessive force, including tear gas and gunfire, to disperse peaceful protesters, leading to dozens of deaths since January 2024.

On June 21, gunmen abducted and tortured Mohamed Traoré, a prominent lawyer and former bar association president, in apparent reprisal against his decision to resign from the National Transitional Council, the junta’s leading transitional body.

The military authorities promised to hold elections before the end of 2024, but failed to meet the deadline, sparking opposition-led protests in Conakry in January. Following the protests, officials announced a new election timeline. Gen. Doumbouya has set September 21 as the date for a constitutional referendum and Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah announced in May that presidential elections would take place in December.

“Four years into military rule, the suppression of rights and freedoms has only intensified,” said a prominent FNDC member who is in hiding. “The government has stifled free expression and assembly; it has incapacitated the political opposition through arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearance, harassment, and intimidation. Enough is enough.”

Enforced disappearances under international law occur when people acting on behalf of the government arrest, detain, or abduct people and then refuse to acknowledge the act or conceal their whereabouts or what happened to them. International law prohibits enforced disappearances, which violate fundamental rights to liberty and security and the right to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.

The International Convention for the Protection on All Persons from Enforced Disappearances provides that “no one shall be subjected to enforced disappearance” and imposes an absolute ban on secret detention. It also requires countries to end abusive practices that facilitate enforced disappearances including arbitrary incommunicado detention, torture, and extrajudicial executions.

Guinea is not a party to the treaty but is still bound by international human rights law prohibiting unlawful arrests, abduction, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment of detainees, and other due process violations. It guarantees victims of abuse the right to an effective remedy.

“When authorities deny knowledge of the detentions, they deprive detainees of any protections and make them vulnerable to even worse crimes, like torture,” Allegrozzi said. “The authorities should take immediate, concrete steps by credibly investigating the disappearances and ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.”

– on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Source: APO

The Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL), through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS) working with its development partners, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Bank, is implementing a Food Systems Resilience Programme.

This programme seeks to reduce food and nutrition insecurity and enhance the resilience of food systems for vulnerable communities in Sierra Leone. It focuses on rehabilitating Inland Valley Swamps (IVS) and on restocking livestock.

Global Context: Impact of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict on Food Supply Chains and the Lasting Effects of COVID-19

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has significantly disrupted production and supply chains, impacting much of Africa and beyond as the two countries are major global producers of commodities such as oil, gas, cereals, oil grains, and fertilizer. Commodity prices for fuel, wheat, oil palm, and fertilizer have soared. This comes on the back of increases in shipping costs and disruption in the global food supply chain due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, which has kept global food prices higher than pre-pandemic levels.

The government developed a Quick Action Food Security Response Plan (QA-FSRP) outlining the much-needed interventions to support the government’s ability to respond to potential food security threats from the Russia-Ukraine crisis. It focuses on short-term measures, as well as lays the foundation for medium to long-term investment to boost agriculture productivity. This plan outlines both immediate interventions and lays the foundation for medium- to long-term investments to boost agricultural productivity.

Empowering Farmers through Critical Support and Capacity Building

The primary objective of this component is to strengthen the legacy Inland Valley Swamps developed by sister projects that are not being properly utilized to intensify rice and vegetable production by rehabilitation.

One of the key achievements is the provision of critical agricultural inputs coupled with capacity building to all beneficiaries with technical support from the MAFS Agricultural Engineering division to actualize the rehabilitation and cultivation of 850 ha of Inland Valley Swamp across the six districts in Sierra Leone. This approach warranted the timely completion of cultivation across all the beneficiary farming groups with a huge prospect of high yield during harvest.

Another key success story is the introduction of cash-based support to for targeted farmers based on measured work. This approach has empowered farmers to make choices based on their priorities, needs, and preferences, to exercise greater control over their own lives.  

Lessons learned and Solutions

One of the programme’s key achievements is the provision of critical agricultural inputs, paired with capacity-building support for all beneficiaries, facilitated by technical assistance from the Agricultural Engineering division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. This support enabled the successful rehabilitation and cultivation of 850 hectares of Inland Valley Swamp across six districts in Sierra Leone. The intervention has resulted in timely planting across all beneficiary groups, with promising high yields anticipated during harvest. Additionally, the IVS intervention in peri-urban areas like Bo has mitigated the effects of flooding, thanks to reconstructed waterways and drainage canals. 

Empowering Farmers with Cash-Based Support

A key component of the programme is the conditional cash transfer model, which gave farmers the freedom to buy what they needed most, whether it is medicine, food, schoolbooks, clothes, or many other things. For instance, in one of the IVS sites in the Daru community after the disbursement of cash to farmers, qualitative evidence showed that farmers who successfully received their cash support used some of it to purchase food, pay school fees, buy mobile phones, and pay hospital bills for their children.

Community Involvement and Stakeholder Engagement for Sustainable Impact

The active involvement of community and chiefdom stakeholders makes it easier to organize and establish any structure and create ownership and sustainability. When community members are given the space to act and are involved in the design of the activity, they bring innovative ideas and demonstrate willingness and commitment to see it through. This is visible in this project through the involvement of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, local community members, and district stakeholders in the formal handing over of agricultural inputs, collaboration in project implementation, and involvement in key decision-making platforms such as the project stakeholder engagement and inception workshops. Women and youth have also demonstrated a strong willingness to learn skills and accept changes.

Recommendations to Peers

Providing training alongside inputs can promote the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, leading to long-term environmental benefits. Additionally, the involvement of government technical staff in monitoring and training beneficiaries during the IVS rehabilitation and cultivation exercise proved highly valuable. These staff members are expected to maintain a consistent presence in the communities for ongoing monitoring after the project concludes, ensuring continuity.

Furthermore, the use of a community-based model, in which beneficiary farming groups were actively involved in the rehabilitation and cultivation of IVS paddy fields is a clear testament to the sustainability of the project.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): Regional Office for Africa.

Source: APO

The United Republic of Tanzania is promoting avocado as a key driver of sustainable agricultural transformation under the One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) initiative. Led by the Government and supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the initiative is helping to strengthen the avocado value chain through innovation, investment, and inclusive development.

Tanzania is one of more than 30 African countries participating in OCOP, a global initiative that supports countries to promote one Special Agricultural Product with unique qualities and market potential. Avocado was selected as Tanzania’s OCOP crop in line with national strategies to develop high-value horticultural exports.

The country is currently one of Africa’s top three producers of avocado, with Kenya and South Africa. Smallholder farmers account for about 90 percent of this production, highlighting the crop’s role in supporting rural livelihoods. Avocados are grown across many parts of the country, including Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Mbeya, Songwe, Njombe, Kagera, Kigoma, Rukwa, Tanga, Manyara and Ruvuma. National efforts have focused on increasing production, improving quality and expanding access to international markets.

Avocado: a strategic crop for growth

Recent data from the Tanzania Horticultural Association (TAHA) shows that avocado exports increased by 74 percent between 2021 and 2023, rising from 15,432 tonnes to 26,826 tonnes. Over the same period, export earnings grew from USD 44.3 million to USD 77.3 million. In November 2024, Tanzania’s first shipment of avocados arrived in China, opening access to a new Asian market.

The OCOP initiative complements Tanzania’s national plans by promoting sustainable production and green value chain development. It encourages countries to build more inclusive and resilient agrifood systems through improved practices in production, storage, processing and marketing.

Tanzania has set a national target to increase avocado production from 190,000 tonnes in 2018 to 290,000 tonnes by 2025. Reaching this goal will require further investment in quality seedling production, irrigation systems, storage and processing infrastructure, and harvesting technologies. Strengthening the capacity of extension workers is also a priority.

Transforming agrifood systems

The OCOP initiative provides a platform for knowledge sharing and collaboration across countries. To date, 33 African countries are participating, each focusing on one special agricultural product. The initiative is country-led, with FAO offering technical support and facilitating partnerships.

The OCOP initiative is aligned with FAO’s vision for more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving noone behind.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): Regional Office for Africa.