Revitalizing the Rural Economy, Empowering Marginalized Peoples
The Promoting Agriculture, Governance and the Environment (PAGE) program was a five-year USAID-funded project that builds on previous U.S. government projects in the sectors of agriculture, democracy and governance and natural resource management (NRM) in Sierra Leone. ACDI/VOCA was the prime organization and ARD, Inc., and World Vision were subgrantees on the program.
PAGE supported and built the capacity of more than 1,030 groups, including new and existing farmer field schools, producer organizations, marketing associations, women’s groups, youth groups, community-based organizations, village savings and loans associations and inland valley swamp groups. PAGE provided training in business and financial management and governance to these groups, as well as technical skills tailored for specific value chains.
In the environment sector, PAGE worked with the government of Sierra Leone to formalize policies that support community forest management and develop NRM infrastructure at the community level. The culmination of these efforts was the landmark signing of forest co-management agreements for the Kambui North and Wara Wara Forest Preserves, through which the government and communities now share the responsibility for sustainable preservation of these critical areas and the proceeds from marketed forest products.
