Freetown, 4 November 2026 – The Government of India has donated 1,000 metric tonnes of rice to Sierra Leone to support the National School Feeding Programme, in a move that strengthens efforts to improve child nutrition, school attendance and learning outcomes under President Julius Maada Bio’s Feed Salone and Human Capital Development priorities.
The formal handing-over ceremony took place on Tuesday, 3 November 2026, at the World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse in Kissy, Freetown. Indian High Commissioner Norbu Negi presented the consignment to Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education Conrad Sackey.
Negi described the donation as a concrete expression of the longstanding friendship between the two countries. “This rice is meant for the children of Sierra Leone. A meal at school brings children to the classroom, keeps them in school and helps them grow healthy and strong,” he said.
He noted that school meals particularly help keep girls in school and ease the financial pressure on vulnerable households.
The High Commissioner linked the support to India’s own experience running PM POSHAN, one of the world’s largest school feeding schemes, which provides hot cooked meals to more than 100 million children every school day.
He said the donation aligns with Sierra Leone’s Free Quality School Education programme and the Big Five Game Changers, especially Feed Salone.
Negi also recalled earlier Indian assistance: US$50,000 in humanitarian aid after the 2017 floods and mudslide; 1,000 metric tonnes of rice and more than 7,000 kg of medicines during the COVID-19 pandemic; and 15 haemodialysis machines supplied in 2026 to strengthen kidney care. India continues to offer 86 annual ITEC training slots for Sierra Leonean officials (more than 200 have benefited in the past three years), 50 fully funded ICCR scholarships each year, a US$990,000 India-UN Development Partnership Fund project for persons with disabilities, and about US$250 million in concessional lines of credit for irrigation, water, agriculture, electricity and the University of Science and Technology project in Koidu.
Receiving the rice on behalf of President Bio and the Government, Minister Sackey thanked India and stressed the direct link between hunger and learning.
Quoting an African saying, he noted: “A hungry child cannot hear the teacher.” He said school feeding improves attendance, supports girls’ education and gives children from poorer homes a fairer chance to succeed.
“School feeding keeps the child in the classroom. It improves attendance, supports girls to stay in school and gives every pupil a fair chance to succeed, regardless of family income,” Sackey stated.
He assured partners and Sierra Leoneans that every bag would be accounted for and distributed transparently to beneficiary schools. “With this support, our children will carry the load of learning, and they will carry Sierra Leone forward,” he added.
The donation comes as Sierra Leone’s National School Feeding Programme expands. The Government recently committed SLE 158.4 million (approximately US$6.6 million) to provide daily hot, nutritious meals to more than 276,000 schoolchildren in the 2026/2027 academic year, working with WFP. In the previous school year, over 257,000 children in more than 1,200 schools received meals through the home-grown component, which also created market opportunities for more than 22,000 smallholder farmers. Broader coverage has reached nearly one million pupils across the country, with increasing use of locally produced rice and other foods under the Feed Salone strategy.
Food insecurity has fallen significantly in recent years, from 28 per cent of households in 2023 to 13 per cent in 2025, while domestic rice production and self-sufficiency have improved. School meals form a key pillar of both nutrition and local agricultural development, complementing the Free Quality School Education programme that has driven major gains in enrolment since 2018.
The symbolic presentation of the rice by High Commissioner Negi to Minister Sackey marked another practical contribution to Sierra Leone’s efforts to ensure no child is left behind because of hunger.
