The three-day working visit of the Secretary-General Ambassador Solomon Rutega accompanied by his Director of Research and Development Inter-Africa Coffee Organization Dr Celesrine Gatariah to Sierra Leone started on the 27th July and ended on the 29th of July, 2022 and was spearheaded by the Produce Monitoring Board.
The visit of the Secretary-General and the Director of Research and Development Inter- Africa Coffee Organization IACO to Sierra Leone was for the following reasons:
– To share with coffee stakeholders, including the government IACO’s vision for the development of the African Coffee Industry
-. To form a strong partnership with SLARI with PMB as the facilitator
-. To identify how more research on Sierra Leone’s speciality coffee called Stenophylla Coffee can be done. This variety of coffee is only found in Sierra Leone and it has a high market value. So IACO will support SLARI and PMB to do more research on this new-found gold to expand its production and increase its yield
-. Visit the site in Kenema where some of the Stenophylla Coffee has been planted this year.
The Secretary-General Inter-Africa Coffee Organization (IACO) Ambassador Solomon Rutega started his visit with Media rounds on Radio Democracy 98.1 FM Good Morning program on Thursday 28th July 2022 and Africa Young Voices television respectively to discuss the rationale of the visit and the partnership with PMB and other stakeholders on the development of the Stenophylla Coffee.
Welcoming the Secretary-General Inter- Africa Coffee Organization Ambassador Soloman Rutega and his Director of Research and Development Dr Celesrine Gatariah, the Executive Chairman Dr James Vibbi said PMB appreciated the visit of the delegates from IACO noting that their intervention will contribute to the development of the Stenophylla Coffee. He said the role of PMB in the development of Stenophylla Coffee is seeking assistance from different parts of the world and partnering with SLARI to do further research on Stenophylla Coffee for the following purposes;
1- to shorten the duration of the maturation period
2- Increase the yield and others like understanding the generic properties that can be shared with Small Holders Farmers who can propagate the message.
The Secretary-General Inter-Africa Coffee Organization (IACO) Ambassador Solomon Rutega said his visit came as a result of discussions he had with the Executive Chairman of Produce Monitoring Board, Dr James Vibbi at the G25 Summit in Nairobi where Dr Vibbi represented the Minister of Trade and Industry. He said the Executive Chairman spoke of the Stenophylla Coffee which has been nursed by WHH and has some unique characteristics that can only be found in Sierra Leone. He said it is against this background the Inter- Africa Coffee Organization deemed it fit to come to Sierra Leone and provide technical advice and also partner with PMB and other stakeholders to do further research on its development.
The Secretary General of IACO, Ambassador Solomon Rutega and his Director of Research and Development Dr Celestine Gatariah held discussions with the Minister of Trade and Deputy Minister of Agriculture, and the Executive Director of Sierra Leone Agriculture and Research Institute (SLARI) on IACO’s vision for the development of the African coffee industry; the commercial viability of the Stenophylla Coffee, the need to form a strong partnership between IACO and Sierra Leone through PMB and SLARI, and many other key issues about the Stenophylla coffee.
The Secretary-General IACO Ambassador Solomon Rutega said the Inter- Africa Coffee Organization (IACO) 1ST Headquarters was in Paris but is now located in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire He further stated that to show the overriding role of coffee in the socio-economic development of Africa, the Heads of State of 11 African coffee producing countries, namely Angola, Cameroon, Central Africa, Congo (RDC), Côte d’Ivoire, Dahomey (Benin), Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Uganda, Tanganyika (Tanzania), met on 7 December 1960 in Antananarivo, Madagascar, and resolved to create the Inter-African Coffee Organization.
Ambassador Rutega said, shortly after its creation, all the African coffee-producing countries become members of IACO, realising the significance of united actions against the challenges facing the African coffee industry, including processing and marketing.
Today, IACO is an intergovernmental organisation comprising 25 African coffee-producing countries including Sierra Leone through the Produce Monitoring Board, the Ambassador maintained.
He said Sierra Leone has a lot of potential in the development of Stenophylla Coffee if further research is done which will increase the production volume and boost the country’s economy.
He registered IACO’s commitment to work with the Produce Monitoring Board and other stakeholders in promoting the development of Stenophylla Coffee and the Coffee industry in Sierra Leone.
The Minister said that the government of Sierra Leone welcomed the visit of the Secretary-General and his Director of Research and Development IACO to Sierra Leone. He said as Sierra Leone is a member of the Inter-Africa Coffee Organization, he hopes that the intervention of the IACO will help increase the production volume of the Stenophylla Coffee, enhancing the quality and ensure sustainable cultivation which will help develop the Coffee industry and contribute to the national economy.
According to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Hinga Sandy, the government of Sierra Leone prioritized coffee production and was impressed with the efforts of the Produce Monitoring Board in promoting Coffee production in the country. He added that Stenophylla Coffee has some other characteristics which make it unique and the government takes too much pride in it.
The Secretary General of the Inter- Africa Coffee Organization Ambassador Solomon Rutega and his Director of Research and Development Dr Celestine Gataraiha paid a visit to the sites where the Stenophylla Coffee are planted at Jihun and Levuma villages in Kenema district. The delegates were accompanied by the Executive Chairman Dr James Vibbi and team and representatives from the Wealthunger Hilfe (WHH) including the former Consultant who wrote the Stenophylla Coffee Policy in Sierra Leone Daniel Sarmu and journalists from electronic media the SLBC and AYV.
According to the Director of Research and Development at IACO Dr Celestine Gataraiha, the Stenophylla Coffee transplanted by WHH is healthy and impressed with the work done by WHH and other stakeholders in the development of the Coffee. He registered IACO ‘s commitment to providing technical support to the development of Stenophylla Coffee after a Memorandum of Understanding with PMB, SLARI and other stakeholders will have been signed.
WHH representative said the Stenophylla Coffee seedlings were collected in 2020 from the wild and have been nursed for over a year and a half, now been out-planted for just two weeks ago. He said there will be inter-cropping on the site so that the farmers have an alternative source of income whilst continuing with the farm management practices that are needed.
Mr Daniel Sarmu was the Consultant who wrote the Coffee policy for Sierra Leone. He said the Stenophylla Coffee has a little bit low yield but has good quality, taste and very good aroma proven in the United Kingdom by the International Coffee Copper analysis. He said that is the reason Stenophylla Coffee should be cultivated in the country.
Mr Sarmu said, for now, the Stenophylla Coffee is under research but if scientific research is done it will be supplied to the farmers and a huge quantity of the coffee will be given to the farmers to be out-planted which will boost the country’s economy and improve the livelihood of farmers. He added that for now, Sierra Leone is not in any competition with any country where we have a niche market for this coffee, so it will be likely Sierra Leone will dictate the price of the Stenophylla Coffee.
In all the discussions, the Secretary-General IACO Ambassador Solomon Rutega registered his organization’s commitment to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with PMB, SLARI and other stakeholders to facilitate proper research of the Stenophylla Coffee and its sustainability.
Submitted by:
Media and Public Relations Officer
Judith Sannah
