Cultural practices and perceptions in sweet potato farming and their implications for pest management in southern Sierra Leone

Abstract

Survey questionnaires were given to 50 farm families in three villages in south Sierra Leone. The purpose of the study was to gain an insight into indigenous farming practices for sweet potato with an emphasis on pest management. This insight was to serve as a guide in the drawing up of a research programme for the on‐farm control of pests. The survey revealed that sweet potato is grown mostly as an intercrop in small farmholdings, mainly for subsistence and a small marketable surplus. Both insect and vertebrate pests affect the crop in the field, with insects reported as being the more serious. The methods employed for controlling insects are mostly cultural and are limited by lack of finance and labour. For vertebrates, methods such as fencing, trapping and hunting, which incorporate locally available materials are used. Therefore a rational pest management approach for this area should be integrative, locale specific, low cost and aware of the socio‐economic realities of the farming communities. It should include: (1) educating the farmers on control options; (2) identifying and developing effective pest management strategies that are low cost, less intensive and scale neutral; and (3) creating an awareness on the necessity for inputs to be accessible and affordable.