Pujehun, Southern Sierra Leone, Monday, 16 October 2023 – His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has launched the FEED SALONE programme at this year’s World Food Day celebration and called on his people to join him in attaining food security and sovereignty as a priority for the next five years.
“By increasing agricultural productivity and seeking food security and sovereignty, my Government aims to reduce hunger and malnutrition, not just as a statistic on paper but as a visible transformation in the well-being of our children, families, and communities.
“Boosting export earnings from cash crops is another strategic objective. We aim to achieve food self-sufficiency and export our priced cash crops to international markets. The vision is to grow premium quality cocoa, coffee, oil palm, and cashew on our land, add value in Sierra Leone and export to premium markets abroad,” he said.
While encouraging Sierra Leoneans to embrace agriculture, the President noted that private sector involvement was also important to complement the ambitious Government and donor-funded agriculture agenda.
“FEED SALONE is more than just a development Programme. It is a Generational Movement to propel Sierra Leone into an era of agricultural self-reliance, where every man, woman, and child is a witness to and a participant in a flourishing economy marked by food security, job creation, and overall economic prosperity.
“As President of the Republic, I am using this World Food Day to crown myself as the ‘Chief Farmer’ from today (after all, I come from a Ruling House). As the ‘Chief Farmer’, I see fertile lands and a nation ripe with agriculture potential and teeming with possibilities. I fervently desire that we use our agricultural potential to attain Food Security and Sovereignty in Sierra Leone in our lifetime.
“As I launch the FEED SALONE Programme in Pujehun, a district blessed with a rich ecosystem to support the production of many crops, including one of the largest rice bowls in our nation, my government pledges to build a nation that feeds itself, contributes to the world’s breadbasket, creates jobs, and conserves the environment for current and future generations,” he told his audience.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Henry Musa Kpaka, said the acute shortage of food was precipitated by the current global crises, noting that it was as a result of that that President Bio had prioritised agriculture and challenged Sierra Leoneans to grow what they ate and export what they grew for income generation.
“This FEED SALONE programme is going to be inclusive because everyone has a role to play. The private sector is key in this programme because the government cannot do it alone,” he said, adding that Sierra Leone was blessed with abundant rainfall that could be harnessed to grow its own food.
According to the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Princess Dugba, the Feed Salone programme was not business as usual, adding that they must find a way to increase fish production.
“Aquaculture is the surest way to do that. While the Ministry of Agriculture would be producing carbohydrate food, my ministry will be producing food that contains protein,” she said.
Minister Dugba also encouraged people to desist from illicit fishing activities in the waters of Sierra Leone, noting that the use of monofilament fishing nets, which captured premature fish, was totally unacceptable because it could affect marine resources management.
President of the National Federation of Farmers of Sierra Leone, Yatta Samah, emphasised that farmers were the primary producers of food, and urged the government to support farmers to cultivate crops that would ensure food sufficiency.
World Food Programme’s Representative, Yvonne Forsen, noted that there were many people in the world suffering from hunger and, therefore, called on all to work together to fight against hunger.
She said the UN family in the country was ready to support the Government of Sierra Leone in achieving its FEED SALONE programme by working with smallholder farmers.
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