Agricultural Production
The Chiefdom suffers from an extreme high unemployment rate and a lack of food. However it is not lacking in the amount of fertile land that can be used for growing food. CODU intends to capitalize on this by developing a agricultural program that will not only feed the residents, it will also provide some much needed job. Over 90% of the residents rely on local hand farming to eat and or trade in order to eat. Unfortunately the proceeds from any selling of farmed food are used to purchase other necessities of life, with of very little left for education. There are approximately 15,000 hectares of largely available land in Gbo Chiefdom. This includes over 3000 acres of inland-valley swamps, and large sections of primary forest suitable for Cocoa and Coffee growing. There are two small commercial oil-palm farms (no bigger than 50-100 acres) and a few cassava farms. All other farming is subsistence farming where the prevalent system of cultivation is a bush fallow system where an upland field is cultivated with annual crops like upland rice, cassava or groundnuts for two to three years until its nutrients are exhausted. Afterwards the field lies fallow for 20 to 25 years until soil fertility is restored. Fallow land is in fact not unused land but serves various purposes. If a field is no longer used for annual crops, other useful plants like bananas are cultivated and can be harvested in the transition to the fallow phase. Fallow land also provides building materials, firewood and medicinal plants. It is also a hunting ground for bush meat, which contributes a considerable portion of protein to the local diet. Rice isthe staple food for the villagers and by and large that of Sierra Leone. Before the civil war in the nineties, Sierra Leone exported rice. Though production of rice has been growing steadily since the end of the Civil war in 2002, it has yet to meet pre-war levels and Sierra Leone continues to import Rice. The village does have some small family rice farms for personal consumption only. Most families cannot afford a balanced or healthy meal and are suffering from malnutrition and other health conditions due to the lack of adequate nutrition. Preparing/cooking the food also poses a serious challenge due to the lack of sanitation. In most case cases prepared foods are cooked in non-potable water and cooking unsterilized.CONTACT US OUR FOCUS AREAS