AGRICULTURE
Agriculture plays a very significant role in major economies in the world. In Sierra Leone, agriculture forms the backbone of the Economy. Land, soil fertility, labor, and rainfall serve as good enablers for the country’s agricultural activities which Sierra Leone is endowed. Agricultural activities in Sierra Leone are predominantly done in the rural communities. In those rural communities, agriculture forms a major source of livelihood. Since improving the lives of people in the communities is at the heart of our interventions, we esteem agriculture as a core component in our community development drive.
We focus on interventions that promote
- Food and cash crops
- Livestock
- Aquaculture
EDUCATION
As an organization focusing on community development, we regard education as a key pillar in contributing to the development of a community.We work in deprived/underserved communities and we do esteem that our services benefit a larger population.Therefore, we do not focus our interventions on only Government or Government-assisted schools but also focus on supporting community schools that are privately owned or managed.
Specifically, we focus on interventions that
- Increase access to education
- Promote Early Childhood Education(ECE)
- Provide a safe learning environment for children of diverse backgrounds such as age, sex, ethnicity, race, religion, disability
- Improve academic performance
Health, Water and Sanitation
According to the World Health Organization, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”, Without water, life cannot go on well. Overall, we consider sound health, water and sanitation to be key driving forces for community development.
To be able to contribute to the development of the communities we work, we undertake activities related to:
- Health
- Water
- Sanitation
ENIVIROMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE
We consider the environment and climate change as cross-cutting issues that affect the communities we work. Usually, when incidences occur emanating from the environment and Climate change there are bound to be adverse effects on agriculture, education, health, trade, and other works of life that contribute to the development of the community.
In the area of environment and climate change, Agro for Community Development and Empowerment (ACDE-SL) focuses its intervention on:
- Environment and Climate Change mitigation
- Environment and Climate Change Adaptation.
WOMEN AND YOUTH EMPOWERMENT
Statistically, women population in Sierra Leone is 51.3 percent (Sierra Leone Mid-Term Housing and Population Census Report, Statistics Sierra Leone 2021). According to the Sierra Leone National Youth Policy, 2003 the age bracket for youths is 15-35 years. Up to date this age bracket still holds for youths. Persons under 35 years of age(Youths) makeup about 80 percent of the entire population of Sierra Leone(Sierra Leone Housing and Population Census Report, Statistics Sierra Leone 2017). This large women and youthful population could present challenges in the provision of health,education, and jobs. This justifies our choice of the thematic areas – agriculture, education, health, water, hygiene,sanitation,women and youth empowerment with environment and climate change serving as cross-cutting issues in all of these intervention areas.
In our Women and Youth Empowerment drive we focus on:
- Job creation through supporting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
- Localized Livelihoods support schemes such as black and Tim Smithery, pottery, weaving, fishing, and other localized innovations
- Acquisition of vocational skills in carpentry, tailoring, masonry, auto mechanic, auto electrical, metal works, plumbing, driving, tiling, upholstery, and many more
RESEARCH
In addition to our thematic areas is research. Without research, we would be ignorant about happenings around us or what would happen and how we would address happenings that affect societies. ACDE-SL carries out research that better informs us about our interventions in the communities we work. With our team of experts, the organization carries out various types of research which include but are not limited to foundational research, action research, applied research, qualitative, quantitative, descriptive, and policy research.