Recreation and Outdoor Pursuit through Experiential Submersion, ROPES

Our role in the pluralistic extension and advisory services system in Sierra Leone

The pluralistic Extension and advisory services is a critical component of ROPES rural development work, to increase the use of improved knowledge and technologies by ROPES agricultural value chain actors through solid partnerships between agricultural extension and this has contributed to the reduction of hunger and poverty, increase adoption of improved technologies, and increase productivity and capacity of our farmers. For the past 5 years, extension and advisory has changed our farming technology-focused, public services, transfer of technology and approaches to a much broader scope with many different actors from the business and civil society.

Our commitment to providing gender equitable services

ROPES recognizes that in our societies and organizational cultures, biased stereotypes and social norms prevent women from exercising their free choice and from taking full and equal advantage of opportunities for individual development, contribution and reward. It is increasingly clear that gender disparities and biases undermine the effectiveness of ROPES operations. Gender equity is a critical component of the organization's commitment to diversity. ROPES is guided by its gender policy, along with related policies that support diversity, seeks to clarify the organization's expectations and guidelines to assist staff in their efforts to advance gender equity.

ROPES will improve the ability of men and women to work creatively and effectively in the organisation and in communities by increasing awareness of gender inequalities and, by working with women and men to change the conditions that create and maintain them. The organisation will always advance gender equity within the institution through our management of human resources and the organizational culture, and within the communities we serve through our programming and our advocacy.

Our contributions to improving nutrition in Sierra Leone

Sound nutrition is a basic human right and a prerequisite for the attainment of a person’s full intellectual and physical potential. Nutrition is also the outcome of development processes in society and not simply a service to be delivered. Improving nutrition is thus an ethical imperative, a sound economic investment and a key element of health care at all levels. ROPES have a clear window of opportunity for addressing nutrition in Sierra Leone. Malnutrition undermines progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in particular those goals related to poverty, maternal health, child mortality and education.

To help improve nutrition in Sierra Leone and to address the growing problem of malnutrition, ROPES is currently working with women and young people in the Bombali district to improve nutrition security among women and young people, this is done through our village savings and loan scheme, the supply of vegetable seeds to 21 farming groups in the district, capacity building training in agriculture at the ROPES vocational training institutes, , which is needed to sustain improvements in nutrition in the long term. A key component of ROPES improvement in the nutrition is the engagement with the ministry of agriculture, forestry and food security and community stakeholders.