In a recent report, the World Bank’s Sierra Leone 2023 Economic Update has unveiled a startling surge in the number of individuals grappling with acute food insecurity in Sierra Leone.
The data reveals a distressing escalation from 788,000 in January 2023 to a staggering 1,100,000 by August 2023.
According to Adetunji A. Oredipe, a Senior Agriculture Specialist at the World Bank, the prevalence of chronically food-insecure individuals is also mounting, both in absolute numbers and concerning relative terms.
Oredipe disclosed these alarming findings during a presentation at the official launch of the World Bank Sierra Leone 2023 Economic Update, held at the Sierra Palm Hotel in Freetown under the theme ‘Enhancing Value Chains to Boost Food Security.’
He emphasized that strides in combating undernutrition have stalled, coinciding with unstable income growth and insufficient progress in essential areas such as healthcare and sanitation.
Oredipe pointed out that Sierra Leone’s food supply is heavily reliant on cereals and starchy staples, with rice as the predominant cereal and cassava as the primary root crop. Despite an ostensibly adequate aggregate dietary energy supply, it is decreasing and lags significantly behind both African and global averages. Similarly, protein supply remains low, declining, and trailing behind global benchmarks.
The report highlights that Sierra Leone has grown increasingly dependent on food imports, particularly for rice, its primary staple. Food access, income levels, and market systems have become the pivotal factors determining access to food for most households. Unfortunately, food has become more expensive, and adequate diets are increasingly unaffordable for many.
Furthermore, child stunting and wasting rates in Sierra Leone are unacceptably high, stemming from inadequate access to healthcare, water, and sanitation services.
Oredipe underscored that achieving food security in Sierra Leone hinges on raising the economic well-being of the impoverished above the poverty line and ensuring the stability of the agri-food system to guard against external shocks affecting food availability.
The report explores the complex issue of rice self-sufficiency, pointing out that it might appear desirable in the face of global price volatility, but achieving it is multifaceted. Lessons from Asia suggest that self-sufficiency is technically feasible through trade barriers and domestic price controls supported by food reserve management. However, it is costly in terms of fiscal resources and missed economic opportunities.
If Sierra Leone aims for greater rice self-sufficiency, Oredipe argues that it must be driven by rapid and widespread productivity growth within the rice value chain to enhance competitiveness and climate resilience.
In the context of Sierra Leone’s small open economy, Oredipe stressed the vital role of macroeconomic stability through fiscal and monetary discipline. Such stability is essential for both short-to-medium-term food security and long-term economic growth and poverty reduction.
Finally, the report emphasizes the need for significant policy shifts in the agricultural sector. This includes investments in export-oriented cash crops like cocoa, coffee, ginger, and palm seed to generate foreign exchange, as well as investments in rice production and marketing to enhance food security by achieving self-sufficiency.
