By: Christine Davis – Africa Alliance of YMCA’s Volunteer
With renewed international investment in African development, food security has become a core component of Africa’s social advancement. Food security, in respect to food availability, access and adequacy, remains one of the biggest challenges facing infrastructure development and resource roll-out in Africa.
The root cause of food insecurity in Africa is the widespread penetration of the poverty resulting from HIV/AIDS, civil war, political corruption, poor governance, ongoing drought and famine and an inability to create farming structures independent of weather. In addition, these same conditions serve to undermine initiatives that prove successful in developed countries.
According to researchers from the American Agricultural Economists Association, over 70% of Africa’s food insecure population live in the rural areas, while the remaining 30% consist of the urban and landless poor. Initiatives then to increase food security in Africa must ensure development of agricultural profitability of small-holder farmers while also providing necessary resources to overcome the societal causes of poverty.
The Sierra Leone YMCA’s Agriculture project, located in Tikonko in Southern Sierra Leone, was created with the intention of addressing the food insecurity caused by Sierra Leone’s decade long civil war by improving on the existing farming infrastructure in the region. Currently, 350 beneficiaries actively participate in the cultivation, harvesting and sales of clued rice (cereal), cassava and sweet potato. Of these beneficiaries, 80% are youth and 32% are female, while most are illiterate. As Amara Lamin, Youth Leader of the Tikonko Young Farmers Association and a beneficiary of the project, explains, “During the civil war, there was a drastic reduction in our seasonal earning from our resource limited agricultural activities as we lost our breeding stock of crops, fowls and domesticated animals. This had a long-lasting effect on our well-being and inflicted unwarranted suffering on our dependants”.
According to project manager, John Moifula the implementation of the project has resulted in an increase in agricultural productivity because of the improved availability of resources and the transfer of knowledge on the latest agricultural techniques. In addition, the improved agricultural access has led to an improved nutritional and socio-economic status of beneficiaries and their dependants.
As Morie Macavoray, a project beneficiary expresses, “I am very thankful to the YMCA Agricultural Project that has helped me to access improved planting materials and adopt improved agricultural techniques. My earning per seasonal production seems to be increasing as we now pay fees for school going children”.
Going forward, John Moifula believes overall food security in the region would improve through government interventions that “advocate the provision of farm equipment and seeds at appropriate times of planting and the inclusion of agriculture in the development plan of all Local Councils in Sierra Leone.” In addition, to ensure long-term food security, the Sierra Leone YMCA plans to embark on: Agro Processing (the conversation of agricultural products into other market demanded commodities); plant permanent “tree crops”; and transfer agricultural knowledge to other YMCA’s in the region in the hopes of developing agriculture as an income generating activity for other branches.
Caption: Sierra Leone YMCA National Chairman, Siaka Charles, Deputy National Chairman Sahr Lebbie, National Treasurer, Ethelbert Tejan and farm assistant Morie Lamin, showcasing the Cassava Tubers used to produce the Gari cereal.
By:Claudius Taylor, Communication and Information Officer, Sierra Leone YMCA
Current projects of the Sierra Leone YMCA seek to encourage appreciable gender participation compared to the early operational era of the association. This is evident in ongoing projects which include the slum livelihoods project, youth livelihood skills training (governance) project, the vocational training centres and the agriculture investment project.
In all facets of projects, there is favourable involvement and coordination of men and women stakeholders and beneficiaries. The Community Steering Groups (CSGs) in the Dworzack and Kroo Bay slums projects in the Western Urban area comprise 60% women. Similar numerical strength holds for all the CSGs established by governance projects operating in the North, South, East and West regions of Sierra Leone.
In aiming to transform the lives of young men and women, the slum livelihoods project has a strong focus on governance issues. Existing advocacy networks established in the Dworzack and Kroo Bay slum communities comprise a total of 10 male and 15 female youth.
This has encouraged the active involvement of marginalised young women in community activities and further, has instilled a sense of participation and recognition in these young women.
To enhance gender relations in decision-making in farming activities, the Sierra Leone YMCA conducted basic participatory agricultural skills which attracted an equal number of rural young women and men in Southern Sierra Leone in 2008.
Participating in the farm operations in the 2008 cropping year in the Southern Regional Town of Bo were 120 young men and 180 young women. The young men were involved in the land clearing, ploughing of rice, mound construction for planting of root crops, and vertebrate pest control by fencing the entire farm land.
The young women were engaged in various phases of crop production, bird scaring, weeding, harvesting, processing, meal preparation and transportation of farm produce after harvest.
Sierra Leone YMCA stats
- Women in leadership positions: 48%
- Women in administrative structure: 30%
- National board: 5 women on the 11-member board
- Board of trustees: 2 women and 3 men
- Membership: 400 women, representing 40%
- National Women’s Wing: established in 1993, to bring together women from different branches; has been active in advocacy on rape and HIV/AIDS
- Women in key leadership roles: Chair of Western Region Board, Abigail Kromanty, and Chair of Bo local branch, Mary James
In recent branch elections, women were voted into strategic positions of Chair, Secretary and Treasurer
Photo: Women are benefiting from various vocational programmes through Sierra Leone YMCA
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Fatmata Koroma is a 28-year-old widow with four children between the ages of 4 and 11, who lived in Kenema until the death of her husband in 2002. After he passed away, she felt there was no-one to take care of her so she moved to Freetown, leaving her children with her sister in Kenema where they are attending school.
She lives with her older brother in Dworzack slum in Freetown. Before joining the YMCA slum project she sold cold water and earned approximately Le 2,000 per day (less than USD 1). This amount was insufficient for her to take care of herself and her children, so when the opportunity arose to take part in the slum project, she was very eager. She enrolled to study catering to learn a trade and obtain a certificate to help her earn enough to take care of her children. She plans to remain in the city and send for her children to join her once she has started earning money. Never having been to school, she was unable to read and write but she is slowly learning and can now write her name.
She advises her idle companions to learn a trade so they can earn money to support themselves and not depend on a man for everything.
By:Mohamed O.B. Sandy, YMCA youth campaigner
The Youth Justice in Action (YJIA) Campaign started in Sierra Leone three years ago. The campaign targets six countries – Sierra Leone, Togo, South Africa, Honduras, Ireland and UK – and is supported by Y-Care International UK.
The main thrust of the campaign seeks to promote youth justice issues both at national and international levels. It also ensures the implementation and enforcement of policies and laws in the best interest of children and youth. In Sierra Leone, the campaign is geared towards maximising the welfare and potential of young people who come into conflict with the law, through a variety of programmes: community sensitisation and awareness raising, jingles and radio discussions on topical issues that are germane to the welfare and development of young offenders and youth generally.
The Sierra Leone YMCA conducted monitoring of courts and detention centres to ensure that services and treatment of young offenders are in line with international minimum standards and, most importantly, to ensure that there is fair dispensation of justice for all.
We held a solidarity march in November, 2008, which was primarily geared towards improving the living conditions for our fellow youth and juveniles who are incarcerated for a protracted period without trials and also to mitigate the problem of violence meted out by the police and other law enforcement agencies on youth offenders. We were also lobbying for the government of Sierra Leone to increase the budget allocated to the Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Ministry. Through the YJIA intervention, the government did indeed pay due attention to this Ministry and its budget was considerably increased.
“There is no denying that YJIA has been a big blessing to the people of Sierra Leone,” said Mrs Kadiatu Bangura, Ministry Senior Staff, in her keynote address on the day of our solidarity march.
Some of the achievements over the last three years include:
• Greater awareness amongst young people of national and international juvenile justice standards;
• Through the campaign, government has increased its willingness to work with civil society organisations to improve the situation of young people in conflict with the law;
• Strategic partnerships have been formed with other organisations, eg the coalition on the Rights of the Child, Sierra Leone Chapter;
• The Sierra Leone YMCA has strengthened its capacity to work on youth justice issues and to position itself as a credible organisation defending the rights of young people in conflict with the law;
• Through the YMCA Youth Justice Campaign, youngpeople lobbied on and influenced the passing of the Child Rights Bill, now being passed into a law known as the Child Rights Act, 2007; and
• Young people have greater understanding of their rights and responsibilities and where to go when their rights are violated.
In appreciation and acknowledgement of the work the Sierra Leone YMCA is doing through the YJIA Project, the Ministry awarded the outstanding Youth Advocate of the year, 2008, to the author of this article, Mohamed O.B. Sandy, a youth campaigner and prime mover of the campaign.
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At 15 years of age, Emmanuel lived with his mother only, as his father worked 150 miles away from home. She found it difficult to look after him and so he left to live on the streets. He found some work with a truck driver but was not paid a salary.
To make some money, Emmanuel and two friends stole the windscreen and brake lights of the truck and sold them. They were caught and arrested and his friends were sent to the maximum security (adult) prison, as they were over 17 years of age. Emmanuel was sent to the juvenile remand home, and fortunately the YJIA project came into contact with him. His trial date was expedited and he was acquitted.
Through the project, Emmanuel was reunited with his family. He is currently attending school and is now in form 2. His mother, Marie, said, “I thank YMCA Sierra Leone for facilitating my son’s release and for bringing him back to me. I am very happy that he is now attending school and he is doing extremely well. I am forever grateful.”
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 - Momoh Kamara, resident of Kroo Bay, involved in the construction of the Community Centre – resident involvement in all processes of this project has led to community ownership
Community Centre Worker, Kroobay Safety, community spirit and engagement, entertainment... this is what the new Community Centre has brought to the residents of Kroo Bay slum, Sierra Leone, where the Sierra Leone YMCA is running a slum upgrade project.
Constructed by the YMCA as part of the community development, the Community Centre was officially opened in January 2009 by the Mayor of Freetown, the capital city in which Kroo Bay is situated. The Day Care Centre now offers residents a safe place for their children and there are currently 20 children enrolled. “I am very happy for the Day Care Centre as now my child is safe. I can go to school and pay full attention on the training, thanks to YMCA,” said a mother, who is attending the Vocational Training school, organised by the Sierra Leone YMCA as part of the slum project.
The community centre is very important to the community as members of community can use it to host up to 300 people at a time. There was recently a community meeting held on security in the west end area, especially Kroobay, attended by members of the Provencal Security Committee west wing (PROSEC), stakeholders and Councilors. The youth leader was asked how important this meeting was to them as youth of the community. He said it was important because they now have knowledge on how to report security issues to police especially at night when thieves may break into their houses or a neighboring house. He also said that the youth should work and cooperate with the police to protect and secure lives and properties in the community.
Other events held include Naming Ceremonies, Muslim launching, concerts and jam sessions. Members can also make use of facilities such as DSTV and the Internet Café.
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The residents of Kroo Bay, Sierra Leone, experienced a devastating flood amidst torrential rainfall on 11th September this year. It is reported to have been the worst flooding Kroo Bay history. This situation has now become a seasonal occurrence, given that Kroo Bay is located on the coastal line of the Atlantic Ocean. It is also on the receiving end of all the garbage that spills from Freetown during the rainy season. This is further compounded by the poor drainage system, which was constructed in the colonial era to contain a smaller population at that time.
The flooding destroyed properties of residents and caused serious damage to their makeshift homes. Some residents I spoke to after the flooding said that they were unable to save their belongings as the water gushed into their houses and carried away everything including clothing and furniture. Kadiatu Kamara, a resident explained the panic of the moment: “In fact, considering the magnitude of the problem, our concentration was not on properties but we were busy rescuing our children who were susceptible to drowning.” One of the youths commented that the almost completed new community centre constructed by YMCA should be called the ‘Ark’.
When asked why, he said that “it is like Biblical Noah’s Ark, given that some of the residents mostly women and children found shelter there when the flooding reached a crescendo”.
Following the aftermath of the flooding, residents were kept busy finding lost properties and praying for sunshine so that they can dry their clothing, mattresses and other household items. Suggestions from some residents in other parts of Freetown say that the only solution to the Kroo Bay situation is for the government to evict and relocate the residents. By all indications, this will be met with difficult challenges since most residents consider this location as the only home they know. The community’s proximity to social services, business enterprises and the market, which resident’s access on a daily basis to sell their wares for daily sustenance survival, counts as the key reason for the residents’ strong attachment to this area. Some suggest that upgrading the slum could be a suitable option.
Development partners are now closely watching and working with the residents to respond to the immediate needs of these people. It was in this spirit that the community savings scheme initiated by YMCA in both Kroo Bay and Dworzack communities has started revealing its value.
The groups in Dworzack mobilized themselves and contributed two (2) bags of used clothing and a sum of Le100,000.00 ($35) in the spirit of solidarity and as a humanitarian gesture. Their counterparts in Kroo Bay received these items with much gratitude and this gesture has contributed to bringing the two communities closer than ever before.
Gibril Turay, Community Development Worker attached to YMCA Kroo Bay Project
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FIRST SIERRA LEONE HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT LAUNCHED AT YMCA SLUM PROJECT
Gibril Turay, Community Development Worker attached to YMCA Kroo Bay project
In the slum of Kroo Bay, Sierra Leone, which is home to approximately 6 000 people, the lack of basic human rights is evident on social, educational and economic levels. It was thus significant that the country’s first Human Rights Report was launched on 21 August 2008 in the heart of this sprawling slum.
The Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone launched the report in the newly-constructed multi-purpose centre that is part of a YMCA project which holistically redresses the lack of human rights by involving the community as central actors in the upgrade project.
The report highlights access to education, land, water and health. Chairperson of the ceremony, Mr Abudul Tehan Cole, head of the Anti-Corruption Commission, said the launching of the report in Kroo Bay was a bold statement that the Human Rights Commission is concerned about the appalling human right conditions under which the people of Kroo Bay are living. He commended the government for efforts thus far to ensure and underscore human rights through various legislation such as the Child Rights Act, the Customary Marriage Act, the Devolution of Estate Act, and the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS Act.
Minister of Presidential Affairs, Hon Alpha Kanu on behalf of His Excellency, the President Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, praised the YMCA for its tremendous efforts in improving the lives and conditions for the people in Kroo Bay, especially the young people. He said the government was committed to raising the standard of living for the people of Kroo Bay, and for the people of Sierra Leone.
National General Secretary of the YMCA of Sierra Leone, Mr Christian Martyn Kamara, contextualised the YMCA’s work in Kroo Bay in terms of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in particular MDG 7 on environmental sustainability and MDG 8 on partnership for development.
The YMCA’s commitment to Kroo Bay involves the building of the centre with its internet café, hall and day care centre; vocational training; savings groups; river clean-ups to minimise flooding harm; and employment creation. The YMCA worked to establish a forum of community representatives who now direct and steer the process of achieving or improving human rights through these activities.
Mr Kamara emphasised that the community members of Kroo Bay are active partners in the slum upgrade process, and that this has been an essential success element in terms of community ownership and pride.
“It is my fervent hope that the issues in this first human rights report will open new horizons for all of us and I hope it will spur everyone to much greater actions,” he said.
Gibril Turay, Community Development Worker attached to YMCA Kroo Bay project
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