The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security’s Director of Extension, Mr. Alpha Yayah Mansaray, represented Sierra Leone at a high-level dialogue organized by the World Food Programme China Centre of Excellence for Rural Transformation. From 2nd to 5th June, a pool of policymakers and partners will discuss green innovations for climate-resilient food systems.
During today’s panel discussion, Mr. Mansaray spoke about the Feed Salone Agenda, outlining its objectives and pillars while highlighting MAFS investments in digital tools to improve efficiency and farmer access. He noted that the country has digitalized agricultural input distribution through the E-Voucher System.
“We subsidize the delivery of seeds and fertilizer through a system that promotes efficiency and transparency,” he said.
He also highlighted the Farmers Registry, which provides a national geo-tagged database for targeted planning and service delivery, backed by an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system and Call Center that deliver tailored messages to farmers in their local languages.
“Under Feed Salone, we are using AgTech to make agriculture more productive, transparent, and climate-smart. These digital tools connect farmers directly to inputs, information, and decisions that build resilience,” Mr. Mansaray stated.
The dialogue reinforced South-South Cooperation pathways for scaling proven digital and green technologies across Africa. It confirmed that efficiency comes from using appropriate technologies to increase productivity: farmer data + digital payments + weather information + advisory services = smarter decisions. China’s “Digital + Green” models reinforced that technology must be practical, locally adapted, and farmer-focused.
“Feed Salone is building a digital backbone for agriculture. The Extension Division is ready to collaborate with partners to scale the e-voucher system, farmer registry, IVR, and weather data systems that make farming more efficient and climate-resilient,” he concluded.
