Reference Date: 20-August-2025

Rainfall deficits affect start of 2025 cropping season

Sowing of the 2025 cereal crops, including rice, sorghum, millet and maize, took place between April and July. A generally timely onset of the rainy season in mid‑April was followed by below-average precipitation amounts between mid-May and the end of July across most of the country, with a negative impact on planting operations and crop establishment. Remote sensing data indicates poor vegetation conditions in several areas as of end‑July.

Weather forecasts for August and September indicate near‑average rainfall amounts in western and southernmost parts of the country, which are expected to support recovery of crop conditions and benefit crop development. However, below‑average precipitation amounts are expected in northern and eastern regions, with a likely negative impact on yields.

Cereal production in 2025 is expected to be boosted by governmental support to farmers under the 2024‑2028 Feed Salone programme. Key focus areas of the programme include enhancing farmers’ access to mechanization services, particularly by increasing the availability of tractors and developing lowland and irrigated rice production systems to expand the planted area. Additionally, the availability of quality inputs is expected to increase as a result of reforms aimed at strengthening the capacity of national research institutions to develop seeds, promoting the adoption of hybrid varieties and transitioning input distributions from a government-led to a private sector-led system, supported by the creation of digital farmer IDs.

Cereal output in 2024 estimated at above‑average level

The 2024 aggregate cereal production is estimated at about 1.6 million tonnes, approximately 16 percent above the average of the previous five years. It mainly reflects the positive impact of governmental support to farmers, including improved access to inputs, mechanization services and machinery, which enabled an expansion in the area planted with rice and offset the negative effects of adverse weather conditions on crops in some areas.

Annual inflation rate decreasing

According to Statistics Sierra Leone, the annual inflation rate was estimated at 7.1 percent in June 2025, down from 31.6 percent a year earlier, reflecting declines in both food and non‑food inflation. After peaking at 54.6 percent year‑on‑year in October 2023, inflation has decreased steadily, supported by a tight monetary policy, a more stable national currency and easing of global commodity prices.

About 1.2 million people acutely food insecure during 2025 lean season

According to the latest Cadre Harmonisé (CH) analysis, about 1.2 million people (14 percent of the analysed population) are estimated to be facing acute food insecurity (CH Phase 3 [Crisis] and above) during the June to August 2025 lean season period, including over 103 000 people in CH Phase 4 (Emergency). This is well below the nearly 1.6 million people (20 percent of the analysed population) estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance during the same period in 2024. The improvement is mainly due to the significant decline in food and non‑food inflation as well as the above‑average cereal output in 2024.

Disclaimer: The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of FAO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

This brief was prepared using the following data/tools:
FAO/GIEWS Country Cereal Balance Sheet (CCBS) https://www.fao.org/giews/data-tools/en/ .

FAO/GIEWS Food Price Monitoring and Analysis (FPMA) Tool https://fpma.fao.org/ .

FAO/GIEWS Earth Observation for Crop Monitoring https://www.fao.org/giews/earthobservation/ .

Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) https://www.ipcinfo.org/ .