By Saidu Jalloh D.S Reporter
The Government of Sierra Leone has fired up its Feed Salone agenda with a major new investment in local farmers, handing over 20,000 bags of home-grown rice to feed schoolchildren nationwide.
At a ceremony on August 4, 2026 at the WFP warehouse in Kissy, eastern Freetown, Agriculture Minister Dr. Henry Musa Kpaka presented the one million kilogrammes of rice to Basic and Senior Secondary Education Minister Conrad Sackey. The purchase, worth almost US$1 million, was facilitated by the World Food Programme with funding from the World Bank’s Food Systems Resilience Programme.
“This is Feed Salone in action,” Dr. Kpaka said. “We are buying from our own farmers to feed our own children.”
WFP Country Representative Andrew Odero confirmed the agency procured the 1,000 metric tonnes of rice at a cost of NLe22 million. The consignment will provide daily school meals for more than 250,000 pupils across five districts during the 2026/27 academic year.
Minister Sackey said the impact goes beyond the classroom.
“School feeding is improving attendance, nutrition, and learning outcomes,” he noted. “Our target this year is to scale up to 2,500 metric tonnes.”
The move builds on gains made in 2025, when WFP bought over 1.95 million kilogrammes of local produce. That program reached about 22,500 smallholder farmers through aggregators and put nearly US$2 million back into rural economies.
UN Resident Coordinator Seraphine Wakana called the initiative “integrated development in action,” saying it connects education, health, agriculture and economic resilience in one program.
For farmers, it means stability.
Isata Feika Sesay, Chairlady of the Takeleneh Farmers Association in Kambia, said the guaranteed market has changed how her community farms.
“WFP’s support has given us confidence to invest more in production because we know there is a market for what we grow,” she said.
Officials say the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme is central to reducing Sierra Leone’s dependence on imported rice and building a food system that can feed the nation.
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