"The civil war between 1990 and 2001 created at least 1 million
refugees and largely destroyed our services. The United Nations
declared us safe in 2002 but some people still don't know that the
war has ended and business people remember the atrocities they
saw," says Abu Bakkar Kebbay. "As a result, few people come to
Sierra Leone to do business. We are still suffering from this image
of a country at war."
To help reintegrate returning refugees and internally displaced
farmers, the new Government sought to revitalize sectors in which
Sierra Leone had been successful before the war. Spices are one
such sector, as they provide many opportunities to create jobs for
large numbers of people, thus helping to reduce poverty.
Spices also have high export potential. When the Government of
Sierra Leone looked to stimulate the economy, it focused on
encouraging new business ventures and export opportunities with
high growth potential. Within this context, it identified the
development of the spice sector in general, and ginger production
and exports in particular, as a priority of its economic
development strategy to create jobs and generate income for
displaced farmers.
Jobs and income
Selling superior-quality ginger to European markets is one such
export opportunity. Its appeal is that it can bring revenues to the
poorest groups and provide jobs, particularly for women.
The Government had attempted to revive ginger exports a few
years earlier, but abandoned the project because of the war. A
once-flourishing export business, Sierra Leone's ginger trade had
dried up due to competition from Asian countries, which grew a
variety of ginger more prized in the West.
In 2002, as part of an assistance package from China, the Sierra
Leone Export Development and Investment Corporation (SLEDIC)
obtained 53 tonnes of Chinese seed ginger. SLEDIC distributed it to
chiefdoms in the ginger-producing areas of Moyambo and Kambia, with
training and field demonstrations. But bad agricultural practices
and inexperience with the improved variety meant that the harvest
was relatively poor.
In October 2003 the Ministry of Trade approached ITC to help
develop ginger exports. ITC developed a programme to provide work
and income for more than 9,000 subsistence farmers, especially
women, who account for over 60% of Sierra Leone's agricultural
labour.
An international expert made a preliminary assessment of the
supply and demand conditions. He proposed exporting processed
ginger to Europe in the second year of production, with better
methods and technology. Peeling, drying and processing ginger
increases its value by about 90% and provides work for more women
on the farms.
Unexpected demand, mobile phones and bikes
ITC held a technical workshop on post-harvest treatment of
ginger, and provided advice on demand, trends and market
promotion.
It arranged for two Sierra Leonean officials (an agricultural
extension coordinator and an export development specialist) to
visit India, the largest producer and exporter of high-quality
ginger.
In Sierra Leone, people use local ginger in beverages rather
than to spice food. With its strong aroma and flavour, it is valued
for its reputed benefits in reducing blood pressure. The Sierra
Leonean officials found export possibilities for their local
variety of ginger - cultivated in more than five times the present
acreage of the improved variety - in the Indian essential oils
market.
The $100,000 project included providing motorbikes,
bicycles and mobile phones to agronomists and extension workers.
The phones and bikes made data collection, dissemination and
project monitoring and evaluation, much easier and timely,
particularly in the rainy season.
With training and information workshops in the ginger-growing
areas, farmers were achieving yields up fourfold by the end of the
third year, meaning they could repay their initial seed allocation
to their chiefdoms.
First ginger exports in 22 years
After three years of cultivation, Sierra Leone was able to
prepare four trial exports in 2006: two tonnes of the Chinese
variety and two of the local variety - the first ginger exports
since 1984. Buyers included importers in a total of 11 countries,
including Germany, India, the Netherlands, Nigeria, South Africa
and the United Kingdom. In 2007 it plans to export 80 tonnes of
dried ginger, which requires the processing of 320 tonnes of fresh
ginger.
Tests indicate that the ginger is of good quality, free of
aflatoxins, and meets the European Spice Association standards. ITC
financed this quality assurance test, which will help obtain higher
revenues for exporters.
So far, the project has created 150 new jobs for processors and
30 new jobs for foremen, loaders, transporters and others. It has
also generated income for the Government through port charges.
Currently, ginger cultivation is limited by the availability of
seeds. The export development agency therefore plans to secure at
least 50 tonnes of seeds by the middle of 2007 to further scale up
the project.
Learning exchanges
The training ITC offers in the ginger project takes place in the
context of technical cooperation among developing countries whereby
linkages are created between farmers/experts in India, Kenya,
Uganda and Sierra Leone.
The cooperation between Kenya and Sierra Leone, for example, has
the potential to increase intra-African trade.
For more information, contactRamin Granfar,
ITC Trade Promotion Officer.
This article draws on reports by ITC consultants C.K. George
and Roger Clarke.
Interview by Prema de Sousa and Peter Hulm.