Sierra Leone

Press release, 19 May 2006

His Excellency Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, President of Sierra Leone, awarded the UNDP for its contribution to food security at the national symposium on the Commemoration of his Excellency the President’s Food Security Pledge, at Bintumani Hotel, Freetown on Friday, 19 May 2006. Focusing on the theme of the event, ‘Four years of food security; lessons learnt and the way forward’, the president issued numerous awards to wide variety of organisations and individuals in acknowledgment of their work to eliminate hunger in Sierra Leone. In addition to the UNDP, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) were also recognised for their contribution to food security.

Four years to the date, on 19 May 2002, the President launched the government’s policy on food security; the objective of the initiative ‘to ensure that every citizen has access to food at all time’. This commitment is consistent with the government’s strategy for job creation for youth and women, and poverty reduction among rural communities.

In his speech at the commemoration, the President noted the contribution of several governments who have aided in Sierra Leone’s ‘war against hunger’. Included was the Government of Ireland for supporting the Agricultural Business Unit Programme (ABU), a project being supervised by the UNDP and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. To date 324 (88%) of a total of 367 ABU’s are fully functioning as grassroots farmers’ organisations, covering approximately 130,000 farmers in the country.

In the statement by the UNDP Country Director, Mrs Nancy Asanga, it was noted that ‘the UN family is gratified that the declaration (to end hunger) is a positive national response towards the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of eradicating hunger among the people of Sierra Leone’. She went on to say that ‘it is further encouraging that several efforts have been made in the areas of policy formation, strategic planning and programme intervention in the agricultural sector. In the not to distant future, we are optimistic that these efforts will yield full dividends in food security.’