In a bid to enhance effective adherence to Social and Environmental Safeguards and to get proper understanding on the implementation of the required Environmental and Social management Plan of the Agribusiness Services Matching Grant (ASMG) by SCADeP, successful grantees are being orientated and trained on the requirement of the World Bank, Environmental Protection Agency and SCADeP.
The training is a requirement for grantees who recently succeeded in receiving the SCADeP ASMG grants on the cocoa, oil palm, rice, poultry and onion valued chains supported by the project.
Grantees are drawn from Southern, Eastern, Northern, North Western and the Western Area Rural Districts of the country. The trainings commenced in Bo on the 24th, Bombali on the 26th and Western Area Rural District in Freetown on the 27th.
Deputising SCADeP’s Project Coordinator Mr. Sulaiman Sesay, the project communication officer Mr. Abrham Karl Samura said that the grantees are commencing the implementation of their various project with SCADeP’s grant in a good footing. He informed them that Environmental and Social Safeguards is an integral part of the funding they are receiving noting that they are policies that the World Bank which is providing the funding to the government of Sierra Leone requires.
He said the project will be working assiduously with the grantees through the two project officers on Environmental and Social Safeguards to ensure that all the requirements including the implementation of the ESMP plan are met. He went on to say that in the end the grantees would have been empowered on how to preserve their environment and prevent hazards that are harmful to they themselves, their animals and people in the communities within which they implement.
Environmental Safeguards Specialist Mrs. Aminata Mackie highlighted Safeguards, World Bank Environmental Safeguard Policies, World Bank Social Safeguard Policies, Environmental and Social Management Plan, Reporting Mechanism, Review of business Ideas etc as the areas of focus for the training.
The Agribusiness Services Matching grant (ASMG) is a funding window under SCADeP’s component one on Access to finance for Poor Rural farmers.
Fifty-six grantees within the small and medium enterprises (SME’s) Producer organizations and Cooperatives benefitted in the round one support. Round two which comprises of women owned and driven SME’s and Producer organisations (PO’s) are thirty-four in number and have received funding ranging from twenty thousand to twenty-five thousand dollars ($20,000 – $25,000).
SCADep is a project under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry funded by the World Bank.