SIERRA LEONE maq 4ª.indd - agrilife - Europa

Acknowledgments
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Acknowledgments
This study is based on ideas developed at the Sustainable Agriculture (SUSTAG) action of DG JRC
IPTS’AGRILIFE Unit. It has been carried out by a network of researchers coordinated by Sergio Gomez y
Paloma (JRC – IPTS), Baudouin Michel (Gembloux University and EARTH – GEDIF Belgium) and Alpha
Lakoh (Njala University, Freetown Sierra Leone) who coordinated the collection of primary data.
The authors are grateful for the help, support and useful comments received from many people during the
different stages of the project and the validation of the field data. First, thanks go to the six hundred and fifty nine
rural small-holders living in various villages of the following districts: Kono, Kenema Kailahun, Tonkolili and
Bombali for the crucial information provided. A special mention goes to the following European Commission
officers (their affiliation refer to the year 2010): Willem Olthof, David Radcliffe, Philippe Steinmetz and Paolo
Sarfatti (DG Development); Leonard Mizzi and Claudia Wulz (DG Agriculture); Beth Masterson and Didier
Nils (DG AIDCO); and Paolo Roggeri (DG JRC), who have contributed to the general setting of the project -
including the selection of Sierra Leone as study area - and provided valuable comments to previous versions
of this report and supported the implementation of the project during all stages. Likewise, The Delegation of
the European Commission in Sierra Leone: Marc De Bruycker (Head of the Delegation), Mr Matthias Reusing
(Head of the Rural Development Section), Georges Dehoux (Food Security Officer), who provided key insights
about ongoing EU aid programmes and Mr Paolo Girlando, coordinator for the use of STABEX funds (USTP:
Use of STABEX Transfers Project), who offered relevant information about the funds’ utilisation.
We would further like to thank Mr Mohamed Ajuba Sheriff, Sierra Leone’s Assistant Director of
Agricultural Statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security who provided us with
guidance about data availability and quality. Mrs Diana Tempelman (Senior Gender & Development Officer)
and Mr Kevin Gallagher (Senior Food Security Development Officer) FAO representatives, as well as Mr
Housainou Taal, WFP Deputy Country Director and Ms Miyuki Yamashita and Marit Fikke from the World
Food Programme for sharing useful information about the current food security situation in Sierra Leone.
During the field validation, Mr Tennyson Williams and Mr. Patrick Sawyer (ActionAid), and Mr.
Franz Moestl and Joachim Ballweg (Welthungerhilfe), kindly introduced us to aid implementation sites
and informed us about the situation at ground level. Additionally, we would like to thank Mr Doriane
Desclee and Mrs Emilie Vautravers (EARTH consultants), who have kindly assisted during the project
implementation and validation of the results on the field. We would also like to express our gratitude to
those responsible for organising the households’ interview process and data collection in the different
locations of Sierra Leone.
Also researchers from various institutions contributed to the analytical review of the contents of this
report, including Guillermo Filchman and Hatem Belhouchette (Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de
Montpellier IAMM) and Kamel Louhichi (INRA- UMR Economie Publique).
Finally we would like to thank the following staff members of the Institute of Prospective Technological
Studies (DG Joint Research Centre - European Commission): Jacques Delincé, Geertrui Louwagie and
Stephen Langrell for valuable comments, Monika Schmidt for formatting support and Adriana Cristoiu for
contributing to the scientific and conceptual preparation of the project.