With over five million hectares of arable land and handsome rainfall every year, with
some amount of irrigation, Sierra Leone should be able to feed itself. On Friday 25 th
November 2022, Executive Board members of the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD) were assured by President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone
that though his government during his first term have started a revolution in
education, agriculture will not be left behind. He gave this assurance during a
courtesy call at the State House by the board members. They were accompanied by the
Resident Coordinator Babatunde Ahonsi, IFAD’s Associate Vice President Donald
Brown and other colleagues. The team’s visit, according to the President, will bring
added value to the thinking process of the government in terms of addressing food
sufficiency and existing gaps in supporting large-scale agriculture.

“We have a youth bulge, and it (agriculture) will be the largest employer if we
approach it properly. It will also stimulate broad-based economic development as is
being done in other places,” the President said. With over five million hectares of
arable land and handsome rainfall every year, with some amount of irrigation,
according to President Bio, Sierra Leone should be able to feed itself. He also said
that the country was spending a lot on importing rice, and his next term in office
would be dedicated to agriculture. “We must see an agriculture revolution here as we
have seen for education,” the President said.

Executive Board member and Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the Rome-
based UN agencies, Dr Yaya Olaniran, informed the President that the Board
members saw firsthand the impact of IFAD’s investments in agriculture during their
interactions with the beneficiaries on their visits to project sites across the country.
These interactions, according to Olaniran, who also is the spokesperson for the
visiting delegation, involved more women and producers.

The meeting with the President climaxed a week-long visit to Sierra Leone, where
the delegation visited Rural Finance and Community Improvement Programme and
Agriculture Value Chain Development Project activities in Bo, Kenema, Mile 91, and
Lungi in Sierra Leone. IFAD is one of the most active donors in the country’s
agriculture sector. To date, the Fund has invested US$171.25 million in nine projects
and programmes in the country benefiting 547,500 rural households. The objective
of the visit was to promote strategic partnerships with the government and IFAD on
agriculture and rural development. The visit was also a good opportunity to gain
knowledge and understanding of IFAD’s work in the field, including the challenges
and constraints faced by IFAD-supported operations.