Climate change has caused several shocks and hazards to rural farmers, as crop productivity has drastically reduced. This has rendered many rural farmers in abject poverty and majority are food insecure. To combat this challenge, the introduction of sustainable agricultural practices through Climate Smart Agriculture, Organic farming, mulching, irrigation and livestock management should take the center stage for agroecology. Due to poor crop productivity as a result of poor soil nutrients as the soil has been depleted with continuous cropping, farmers have turned to the application of inorganic fertilizer to boost plants growth. It is recorded that inorganic fertilizers are synthetics substance that has adverse effect on human health. The application of inorganic fertilizers has disrupted the organic food supply chain in many rural communities, thus, the health of many Sierra Leoneans are at stake. To prevent this menace, organic farming with Agro-forestry as a bed rock will form a sustainable pathway towards food security in the rural areas; thus, the rural marketing strategy will be enforced. This pathway will empower farmers to be resilient to climatic change conditions, as Organic farming goes with Agro-forestry, the trees that will be planted within the farming sites will serve as coolant to the sun?s radiation, and thus, the soil cannot release water so quickly. This will help in reducing irrigational tendencies; thus, the soil will be upgraded with the desirable nutrient to feed the crops.

The rationale for this project targeting vulnerable chiefdoms within Moyamba District is due to the rapid rate of deforestation within the Moyamba District for charcoal burning and plum stick harvesting for commercial purposes within the district. The four chiefdoms selected are leading chiefdoms for charcoal burning within the Moyamba District. Many people plying the route from Bo to Freetown always stopped at Senehun town (Kamajei Chiefdom) to buy charcoal. This and many other climate related issues have posed farmers within these chiefdoms at risk to climate change, thus, they are now feeling the broth. The youths, women, and PWDs are at the front in facing these harsh conditions. The yields from these chiefdoms are purely inorganic as the soils have been degraded. To increase crop productivity and organic farming, the planting of the Neem Tree and other nutrient supplying trees to upgrade the soils is a worthy venture.

The overall project objective is to improve on sustainable agricultural practices through Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA), innovation and integrated pest management (IPM) approach to enhance better crop and animal productivity. The specific objectives of this project are; to conduct KAP survey and training of rural farmers on CSA, Organic farming and other sustainable agricultural practices, to involve into sustainable irrigation for sustainable vegetable production, to establish Gracidea and Neem plantation farms for the production of organic fertilizer and biopesticides and the establishment of a semi-intensive small ruminant management platform. The expected results of this project are; the training of 500 farmers on CSA and other sustainable agricultural practices, to construct irrigation sites for vegetable production through semi-drip irrigation and mulching, to produce Gracidea as organic fertilizer to enhance soil fertility and to produce Neem pesticides as biological control measures for pest and diseases infestation on crops, and the management of 20 goats in a semi-intensive system in two communities. This project will target four chiefdoms (Kori, Kamajei, Dasse and Fakunya chiefdoms respectively and a total of six operational communities within those four chiefdoms.
The overall project objective:
The overall project objective: is to improve on sustainable agricultural practices through Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA), innovation and integrated pest management (IPM) approach to enhance better crop and animal productivity.

The specific objectives
The specific objectives of this project are; to conduct Knowledge Attitude and Practice survey and training of rural farmers on Climate Smart Agriculture, Organic farming and other sustainable agricultural practices, to involve into sustainable irrigation for sustainable vegetable production, to establish Gracidea and Neem plantation farms for the production of organic fertilizer and biopesticides and the establishment of a semi-intensive small ruminant management platform.