Technical Assistance for the Agricultural Development Project

The aim of the Agriculture-for-Development (A4D) project is using the value chain approach to help rejuvenate the private cash crop sector, targeting crops of highest socio-economic comparative advantage (cocoa; coffee; cashew) by: Improving the quantity and quality of cash-crop production Reducing transaction costs Maximizing efficiency and effectiveness, and Increasing profitability at all levels So that the sector regains its important position in the economy, as was originally the case long before the civil war. The proposed project has the potential to reduce the poverty levels of approximately 140,000 farming families amounting to a total of about one million people overall. Throughout the value chain the constraints of contrary, outdated legislation - as outlined in the Feasibility study - makes for high costs of doing business as well as the loss of achievable prices on the world markets. Thus, all legislative instruments need to be reviewed, a position paper - Green Paper - prepared, and draft legislation made for presentation to Parliament for ratification. The Agricultural Commodity Legislation Expert, based in Freetown, will be required for a minimum of one year. Main responsibilities In conjunction with the Attorney General’s Chambers and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), tasks to be covered to enable new legislation and regulations to be enacted will include, but will not be expressly limited to the following: To prepare a concise report on the existing legislation and its shortcomings To review the legislation of selected other countries, making contrasts and comparisons, relevant to Sierra Leone. To review the defunct Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Board (SLPMB) and its assets within the Ministry of Trade and Industry, as well as the Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Company (SLPMC) and the Commodities Monitoring and Marketing Unit (CMMU), the Produce Inspection Unit within MAFFS, and the Bureau of Standards. To prepare the instruments to enable legally authorised bodies to uphold the new legislation, specifically the collection of export taxes, the privatisation of inspection procedures, the role of commodity associations. To prepare a timetable and organisational manual with which to enable these matters to be undertaken, and the resources needed to undertake them. To prepare a Green Paper for presentation to Parliament. To prepare draft legislation and regulations for presentation to Parliament for ratification.