24/06/2013  (Awoko) - As a way of creating awareness on the importance of oil palm in the country, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) yesterday engaged stakeholders at the British Council auditorium, in a ‘Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil’ (RSPO) in Sierra Leone to meet international standards.

The workshop, according to Madam Mary Agboli, Country Representative of IFC, was organized by the IFC with support from the Sierra Leone Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SLIEPA).

She disclosed that as a private sector arm of the World Bank Group, the IFC is committed to providing and supporting opportunities for people in emerging and developing economies to escape poverty and improve their lives as, “we seek to achieve this through targeted and catalytic investment and advisory services to the private sector,” as IFC is the largest multilateral source of loan and equity financing for private sector projects in the developing world

IFC through its advisory services, work with donors and other partners in the private and public sector to design and implement programmes that build small and medium enterprises, accelerate private sector participation in key sector, as IFC focus on strengthening SMEs in the country, and support investment climate reforms, according to her.

The Country Representative maintained that the agricultural sector is of great importance in the country’s economy as currently about two-thirds of the population depend on the sector for livelihood as “in recognition of this importance, the government has developed the new vision for the agriculture sector which will seek to make agriculture, the engine for economic growth and development in Sierra Leone. Oil Palm has been identified as one of the strategic crops to fuel this engine,” she added.

Madam Agboli, stated that IFC in demonstrating its commitment to support the development of a sustainable oil palm sector globally, they support industry-wide and firm-level efforts to further engage with and support smallholders, facilitate access to markets, particularly international markets, training of small holders and support of group international certification among others.

Speaking on behalf of SLIEPA, Patrick Caulker, CEO of SLIEPA, states that attracting and promoting trade and investments have been the corner stone of the government’s private sector development agenda which will force them at SLIEPA to continue to become a leading policy reformer in the country, developing vital infrastructure and effective promotion of their investment opportunities through a targeted approach

He maintained that the workshop will mark the start of a journey, as they continue to reform their agriculture sector to international best practices on the RSPO formed in 2004 with the objective of “promoting the growth and use of oil palm product through credible global standard and engagement of stakeholders”, explaining that RSPO was formed in response to a global call for sustainably produced palm oil and looks to adopt legal, economically viable, environmentally and socially beneficial management and operations.

Lovell Thomas, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security expressed thanks and appreciation to IFC and SLIEPA for organizing such workshop which seeks to introduce stakeholders to the RSPO, an international sustainable standard for certifying social and environmental aspects of oil palm plantations and mills, as he believes the process will a road map for the development of oil palm sector in the country.

According to him, the government believes a vibrant private sector is critical to economic growth, income generation, employment and ultimately reduced poverty as agriculture remains an important productive sector for the country as well as the mainstay of its rural population, as the sector has tremendous scope to provide livelihood for majority of the population

“The primary objectives of the government’s current agricultural strategy are to promote sustainable growth of agricultural output, food security and the reduction of poverty” he recalled, explaining that oil palm is a major ingredient in the household diet in Sierra Leone and also serves as raw material for industry, as oil palm production in Sierra Leone is mainly dominated by small-scale growers cultivating less than two half of the crop on family land and processing most of it manually

He states the country has made significant strides in improving the volume of oil palm production as gains in productivity and competitiveness are needed for faster growth, and there are innovate producers who are able and willing to diversify and invest in the oil palm subsector.