The World Bank has approved additional funding to strengthen the resilience of Sierra Leone’s food systems.

According to the bank, 516,700 people in the West African country will benefit from the $50 million International Development Association (IDA) financing approved under the second phase of the West Africa regional Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP-2).

This additional funding will support the country’s preparedness against food insecurity and improve the resilience of its food systems, according to the bank.

Data from the World Food Programme (WFP) shows that over 4.7 million people are food-insecure in Sierra Leone of which more than 900,000 are severely food-insecure and over three million are moderately food-insecure.

The country is among the poorest nations in the world with almost half of its seven million population facing hunger as families are unable to access basic services.

Agriculture is the engine of economic growth and poverty alleviation in Sierra Leone, but it is characterised by low and stagnating productivity in key crops, limited market-oriented diversification, major aggregation and coordination bottlenecks, a weak private sector, and a low-capacity public sector.

Climate shocks have also impacted the country’s food system, leaving many farmers unable to grow crops.

‘In Sierra Leone, food and nutrition insecurity situation has been exacerbated by the recent flooding and requires a serious and scaled-up response’, World Bank’s Country Manager for Sierra Leone, Abdu Muwonge, said.

‘This additional financing is a strong vehicle to address both immediate needs to mitigate the impact of the ongoing food security crisis, as well as invest in productive capacities and critical infrastructure to strengthen the longer-term resilience of vulnerable populations to more frequent and severe economic and climate shocks’.

Short-term interventions under the project will help address the immediate impact of food insecurity through cash transfers to vulnerable and food-insecure agricultural households to help them cope with the cumulative impacts of production shocks.

Additionally, the project will promote activities that close gender gaps in women’s participation in the agriculture sector and provide women with productive resources.

Source: World Bank

Photos source: Department of Foreign Affairs