State House, Freetown, 23rd July 2025 – His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio today welcomed a high-level delegation from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and other agricultural partners who paid a courtesy visit to discuss deepening collaboration in Sierra Leone’s agricultural transformation efforts.
The delegation included Donald Brown, Associate Vice President of IFAD; Enoch Chikava, Director of Agriculture Delivery Systems at the Gates Foundation; representatives from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA); and McKinsey’s Africa Agriculture Transformation Initiative (AATI).
Speaking during the visit, Mr. Chikava praised President Bio’s strong commitment to food security through the Feed Salone initiative. He expressed the Gates Foundation’s readiness to support Sierra Leone’s agriculture sector, particularly in local capacity building. “Development cannot be orchestrated from outside. The country must have its own ability to implement what it wants to do,” he emphasised.
He applauded the Ministry of Agriculture’s leadership and affirmed that the Foundation was in Sierra Leone to partner closely in ensuring Feed Salone’s success.
Echoing that message, Mr. Donald Brown of IFAD pledged continued support to the country’s agriculture sector. He commended President Bio’s leadership and stated that IFAD looks forward to aligning with Sierra Leone’s agricultural vision, also highlighting ECOWAS’s potential as a regional agricultural bloc.
In response, President Bio welcomed the delegation on behalf of the government and people of Sierra Leone. He reiterated that agriculture is the cornerstone of sustainable development, offering not only food security but also employment and revenue-generation opportunities.
He shared updates on the establishment of a Presidential Council on Agriculture, describing it as a strategic body designed to accelerate the implementation of the Feed Salone initiative. He emphasized the need for partnerships to tackle the many layers of reform required: “We are ambitious, and we need the private sector to bring in their expertise so that we don’t miss the mark.”
The President stressed that agriculture and food security should become embedded in the national culture, and that the sector must transition from traditional to modern practices. “We need technical support to transform agriculture. It will help motivate and empower our farmers,” he noted.
President Bio concluded by reaffirming his government’s political will to ensure the success of Feed Salone and thanked the Gates Foundation, IFAD, AGRA, and McKinsey’s AATI for their ongoing support and partnership.
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