Sierra Leone

After emerging from a civil war that lasted from 1991 to 2002, Sierra Leone has been working to overcome severe poverty and food insecurity. During its transition, Sierra Leone has dramatically increased its hectarage of arable land, to 1 795 000 hectares. This is important, because agriculture is a critical component of the national economy, with 60 percent of the population dependent on farming for its livelihood. This percentage is mostly involved in small-scale, peasant production. Another improvement has taken place in Sierra Leone’s malnourishment rate of 35 percent. That is down from 43 percent recorded at the end of the country’s civil conflict in 2001. However, life expectancy and child mortality numbers are still at a shocking 48 years and 192 per 1 000 births, respectively.

Video: FAO in Sierra Leone

FAO's main in-country programmes

Special Programme for Food Security
FAO has been assisting Sierra Leone in the field of food security since 2001. FAO provided technical support to the formulation of a National Programme Document that outlines the Special Programme for Food Security strategy in the country. The preparatory phase consisted of a community-based extension and capacity-building programme. District coordinators undertook pilot field schools on rice, vegetables, tree crops and marketing in 48 sites with over 1 000 farmers.

National Programme for Food Security
Sierra Leone launched its National Programme for Food Security, called Operation Feed the Nation, in 2002. It has been implemented as an umbrella programme through the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security with additional technical and financial support from FAO, other UN agencies and several countries.

The goal of the programme is to mobilize communities, targeting about 200 000 families, to achieve household food security and contribute to national economic growth. It is a community empowerment initiative using the Farmer Field Schools approach. The programme is an important component of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper that aims to improve productivity of the agriculture sector through building farmer skills and organizations and re-establishing community spirit and trust.

EMPRES animal health component
The Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal and Plant Pests and Diseases (EMPRES) focuses on strengthening the veterinary services in Sierra Leone. During the 11 years of civil war, the veterinary facilities in the country were totally destroyed. Sierra Leone is now benefiting from a FAO project that provides basic animal health packages for diagnosis and control, prevention, monitoring and surveillance of major infectious and parasitic diseases, including highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). The project also aims to strengthen extension and training capacity in the livestock sector.

Sierra Leone has never reported HPAI outbreaks. In 2007 FAO participated in a rapid assessment mission for the elaboration of the Integrated National Action Plan on HPAI. Sierra Leone currently benefits from several ongoing global and regional projects on HPAI.

Sierra Leone is also part of several regional networks for veterinary diagnostic laboratories, epidemio-surveillance and integrated animal health communication, all led from the Regional Animal Health Centre of Bamako Mali.

National Medium Term Priority Framework
FAO is planning the preparation of a National Medium Term Priority Framework in 2009. The framework will serve as an important FAO contribution to the preparation of the new United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) cycle commencing in 2011.

One UN - One Programme
Sierra Leone is included in the list of UNDAF roll out countries for 2009. The areas of cooperation among the UN agencies in Sierra Leone are:

• poverty reduction and reintegration;
• human rights and reconciliation;
• good governance, peace and stability; and
• economic recovery.

The UNDAF framework is aligned with the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and focuses on the following outcomes:

• transparent, accountable, democratic governance;
• increased production, availability, accessibility and utilization of food with improved employment opportunities for youth;
• improved health;
• HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support; and
• reconciliation, security and respect for human rights.

last updated: 27 July 2011