• Date: Ongoing since 2022
• Beneficiary: Community
• Category: Crop Cultivation and Value Addition
• Service: Agricultural Productivity and Women's Empowerment

Onion Value Chain Promotion

Ma Nyande Women's Development Organization (MNWDO) drives the Onion Value Chain Promotion project in Sierra Leone, empowering women farmers in Bo and Falaba Districts to cultivate and process onions for commercial markets. This initiative addresses gender-specific challenges by providing access to resilient seeds, fertilizers, and processing facilities to enhance crop value and income.

Supported by the World Bank’s SCADeP matching grants and partnerships with UN Women and the Ministry of Agriculture, the project includes training on nursing onion seeds and processing to extend shelf life. In 2022, MNWDO received Le100m (approximately $5,000 USD) from First Lady Fatima Bio to scale onion farming and prioritize local sales. The project has overcome challenges like heavy rains by testing rainy-season varieties, contributing to Sierra Leone’s agricultural development.

What we're doing!

MNWDO is strengthening the onion value chain and empowering women farmers through the following interventions:

• Distributing rainy-season onion seeds from East West Seeds to women farmers.
• Commissioning an onion processing facility to enhance shelf life and market value.
• Providing training on onion cultivation and processing techniques.
• Exhibiting at events like ILO forums to secure market access and visibility.