Food Security

Sierra Leone is a small but densely populated country on the North Atlantic coast of West Africa.The economic effects of the war in Ukraine crisis have worsened food and nutrition security, alongside economic decline and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, in an already food-deficit country. Spikes in petrol prices have driven up food, transport and other costs. This has in turn reduced people’s purchasing power and increased widespread poverty

Rice is a key issue relating to poverty both in terms of food security and livelihoods. Rice is culture: humans have cultivated rice for nearly 10,000 years. Rice has formed the backbone of empires, the basis of political alliances, and to this day remains a primary food staple for some 3.5 billion people.

Due to its heavy dependence on imported rice, Sierra Leone remains vulnerable to fluctuations in world rice prices and decreases to the exchange rate.  Those most vulnerable to another short-term food price shock are urban households, non-farm households, female headed households, and households with older household heads.

Annually, the Elba Hope Foundation executes a food security program in Sierra Leone serving a multitude of chiefdoms throughout the country. Additionally, we provide services such as purchasing, transporting food, renting premises to sort, clean, and store food, and preparing meals or grocery parcels.