The Sierra Leone Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (SLeFAAS) was endorsed by stakeholders in June 2011 as the Sierra Leone Forum of the Africa Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS).
SLeFAAS is an umbrella organization of agricultural Extension and Advisory Services (AEAS) providers, actors and stakeholders in Sierra Leone. The vision of SLeFAAS is “to provide an autonomous professional agricultural extension and advisory services that efficiently and effectively contribute to sustained growth and transformation of agriculture”. The key mandates of the forum as to advise the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS) on agricultural extension and advisory services activities and take over the writing of the Policy on Agricultural Extension, address gaps in AEAS supervision and help maintain quality control, and advocacy. It should also act as a link between research and extension especially between SLARI and AEAS providers. The forum should be modeled on other professional bodies such as the Sierra Leone Bar Association, Institute of Engineering, Medical and Dental Association.
SLeFAAS objectives include:
- To provide a forum for professional in AEAS;
- To support capacity strengthening in all aspects of AEAS;
- To promote exchange or share of information;
- To influence policies and initiate/implement programmes relevant to AEAS;
- To promote partnership and linkages with the country’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Processes and other networks and stakeholders; and
- To identify and support action research in AEAS.
Since 2014, the activities of SLeFAAS was interrupted because of the Ebola Outbreak however, major activities done so far includes: conducted national stakeholder sensitization and consultations, AAS capacity assessment and analysis, MoU between CF, AFAAS and host institution is in place, CIKM facilitator contracted and provided the necessary logistics to monitor and manage the AFAAS website and VSNP, and Exhibited 2 AAS innovative approaches at the Gaborone, Botswana.
Contact persons: CF chairperson: Mr. Bakarr J. Bangura, Mobile No: +232 79 903670
Focal person: Mr. David Sam Suale, davidsuale@yahoo.co.uk Mobile No: +232 78 245008 or +232 25 622152