Land Governance and Food Security Advocacy Training for Media and other Non-State Actors Concludes with the Launch of a Key Resource.
With funding from BMZ through Welthungerhilfe, Land for Life successfully concluded a day-long training for media practitioners and other non-state actors on March 21st, 2025, and launched a simplified version of the Customary Land Rights Act and National Land Commission Act of 2022. The event brought together journalists, civil society actors, legal practitioners, and other non-state actors from nine districts to strengthen land governance and food security reporting and advocacy.
Three well-known figures in Sierra Leone’s and the world’s media and land governance landscapes led the training. The facilitators were Sonkita Conteh Esq, Country Director Namati Sierra Leone, Mr Umaru Fofafah, former president of the Association of Journalists, reporter for the BBC and Reuter News, and media consultant in Sierra Leone, and Anna Schreiber, Welthunger International Coordinator for Land for Life. The three guided the participants through the steps of media reporting, land governance, and food security advocacy.
Sonkita Conteh Esq. outlined Sierra Leone’s unique dual land tenure system: Western Area: Governed by English common law and the Provinces: Regulated exclusively by customary law. The legal expert highlighted several landmark court cases where rulings affirmed community land rights, demonstrating the system’s practical implications. He challenged media and civil society organizations to intensify their advocacy on land governance issues, stressing its critical importance for equitable development nationwide.
Veteran journalist Umaru Fofanah drew from his extensive local and international reporting experience to highlight crucial skills for covering land governance and food security. He noted this training marked the first opportunity for Sierra Leonean journalists to develop specialized expertise in these critical areas. Mr. Fofanah challenged participants to pursue in-depth investigative reporting, uncover underreported land governance issues and translate complex land matters for public understanding. Anna Schreiber (Welthungerhilfe) provided an international context, focusing on the fundamental right to food and responsible tenure governance. Anna presented the current status of countries with regards to the 2024 Global Food Security Index. She urged all attendees to make food security reporting a professional priority, emphasizing its direct impact on national development.
During the launching of the Simplified version of the Customary Land Rights Act, Berns Komba Lebbie, the National Coordinator for Land for Life Sierra Leone, stated that the simplified version of the law will assist reporters and CSOs in understanding its substance. He stated that one of the difficulties has been for journalists and other non-state actors to understand the substance of the land laws. Berns encouraged participants to utilise the simplified version of the law so that they could properly tell the public about its contents.
