SIERRA LEONE maq 4ª.indd - agrilife - Europa

1 Introduction
Sierra Leone is a West African country that
was recently devastated by a civil war which
lasted more than 10 years (1991-2002). The war
destroyed the country’s governmental institutions
and infrastructure, and forced the population
to abandon their land, creating refugee streams
converging towards the capital, Freetown. Sierra
Leone has since regained its stability and has
started a process of economic recovery. In this
context, agriculture is one of the key elements
to the country’s future development given that
two-thirds of the population lives in rural areas,
the vast majority fully employed in farming
activities (Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers
(PRSP) I (2005a) and II (2009)). Rice, representing
the staple food of the population and main
component of the local diet on the one hand and
cocoa and coffee, as main export commodities
on the other hand, are therefore of particular
relevance. Rain-fed rice can be grown in various
agro-ecologies across the country. The imports
in Sierra Leone currently represent almost a
quarter of the population’s requirements; but the
gap between production and consumption is
decreasing as the country moves closer to selfsufficiency.
Cocoa and coffee are mainly grown
in the Eastern part of the country, where the
uplands are concentrated.
Access to resources (i.e. production inputs)
adequate infrastructure and markets is severely
limited, thus hampering the agricultural sector’s
capacity to obtain the maximum output. In
addition, the majority of crop production still
depends on a smallholder farming structure
which faces specific obstacles to securing
efficient management practices. Likewise,
production incentives are also embedded within
the village or chiefdom organisation which
dominates most social and economic decisions,
particularly concerning agricultural decisions.
Small farmers in Sierra Leone report rather low
yields, are unable to fulfil essential land and
forest preservation (i.e. reduced idle periods of
the shifting cultivation agrarian system), including
soil preparation tasks, and since the civil conflict
market access has not been fully re-established.
Consequently, most farming dependent
households are below the poverty line.
The Government of Sierra Leone requested
the use of the 8th EDF (European Development
Fund) STABEX (Stabilisation of Export Earnings)
transfers funds in the mid 2000’s (see more
details on STABEX in Section 4 and Box 2) for
the improvement of national rice production and
the rehabilitation of cocoa and coffee plantations
to achieve its food security goals and accelerate
economic recovery. Most of the support provided
by the projects (which initiated in October 2007
and finalised in December 2009) is focused on
increasing yields of smallholders, who represent
the large majority of the agricultural sector. In
this context, understanding the determinant
factors of agricultural productivity, organisation
of farming practices, farm income and rural
poverty alleviation remains an important research
topic that is particularly relevant to policy since
it allows assessing and comparing the impact
of development assistance strategies in view of
a good utilisation of funds and resources with
respect to the desired outcome.
The overall objective of this study is to
improve knowledge of the characteristics of
agricultural smallholders located in Sierra Leone
in view of (i) identifying constraints they face for
an efficient and sustainable use of production
resources, (ii) highlight consequences for their
food security (see Food Security Programme of
the United Nations World Food Program in Sierra
Leone in Box 1), and (iii) propose productivityrelated
strategies for alleviation of the rural
poverty.
Rural poverty reduction and food security: The case of smallholders in Sierra Leone
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