The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS) is nearing completion of an upgraded Farmer Voice Platform that is expected to strengthen communication between farmers and the ministry while improving access to agricultural information and services across Sierra Leone.
The development of the Agricultural Interactive Voice Response (IVR) platform formed part of ongoing efforts by the ministry to expand the use of technology in agriculture and create more direct and accessible channels through which farmers can communicate with agricultural authorities.
Senior officials of the ministry on Wednesday held discussions on the technical progress of the platform and preparations for its eventual rollout, with officials describing the initiative as an important step towards modernising agricultural extension services and making government support more responsive to farmers’ needs.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Deputy Minister 1, Dr Isata Kamanda, said the upgraded IVR platform would provide farmers with a more convenient means of engaging the ministry and communicating directly with relevant directors and technical officers.
She described the platform as a modern technological solution capable of bringing the ministry closer to farmers, particularly those who may face difficulties accessing agricultural offices or extension personnel physically.
According to Dr Kamanda, the success of the Feed Salone Agenda will depend significantly on the effective use of technology and innovation to transform the agricultural sector. She stressed that digital solutions could help government better understand the realities facing farmers and respond to their concerns more efficiently.
She further noted that the platform would provide an avenue for identifying challenges affecting farmers in different parts of the country, while helping to reduce the financial and logistical costs associated with traditional communication between farmers and ministry officials.
The ministry’s Assistant Director of ICT, Dominic Bao, provided an update on the technical development of the system, revealing that the consultant working on the project had completed approximately 98 percent of the assignment.
Mr Bao explained that the ministry’s journey towards establishing an e-extension service began in 2022, as part of efforts to strengthen agricultural extension and make information more readily available to farmers.
He said the IVR platform subsequently became one of the principal tools identified for expanding communication between the ministry and farmers. The initiative was later presented through a concept note to the Food Systems Resilience Programme and the World Bank, a process which helped attract further support and broaden the scope of the digital communication strategy.
The development has also opened the door for the introduction of additional communication channels, including Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), Short Message Service (SMS) and WhatsApp.
These channels are expected to complement the IVR system by giving farmers multiple options to seek information, report challenges, receive agricultural updates and engage with relevant authorities depending on the type of communication required.
The broader digital approach is expected to make farmer engagement faster and more flexible, particularly for farmers who rely heavily on mobile phones but may have limited access to internet-based services.
The Deputy Chief Agriculture Officer, Prof. Aiah Joseph Thorlie, welcomed the progress made on the Farmer Voice Platform, describing the initiative as a potentially important tool for improving the effectiveness of agricultural field operations.
He said the system would help agricultural personnel work more efficiently by creating faster channels for receiving information from farmers and responding to issues arising at the community and field levels.
Prof. Thorlie also commended Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Kpaka for his efforts in bringing development partners on board to support the initiative. He further praised the Director of Extension for taking a proactive approach towards advancing the ministry’s digital agricultural services.
The near-completion of the platform comes at a time when the government is placing increased emphasis on technology, innovation and improved extension services as part of efforts to advance the Feed Salone Agenda and strengthen food production.
Once fully completed and rolled out, the upgraded Farmer Voice Platform is expected to provide a more direct link between farmers and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, allowing concerns from the field to reach decision-makers more quickly.
Beyond communication, the platform could also strengthen the ministry’s ability to gather information from farmers, understand emerging challenges and provide timely technical support.
With the technical work reportedly at 98 percent completion, attention is now expected to shift towards finalising the remaining components, testing the system and preparing for its wider deployment.
The initiative represents a growing shift towards digital agriculture in Sierra Leone, where mobile-based technologies are increasingly being considered as practical tools for connecting farmers with government services, agricultural information and technical expertise.
For the ministry, the ultimate objective is to ensure that technology does not merely modernise communication but contributes directly to a more responsive agricultural sector in which farmers can communicate their needs, access support and participate more effectively in the country’s drive to improve food security and agricultural productivity.