RAI

Sierra Leone is endowed with arable land, fertile soil and the conducive environment for agriculture. But agribusiness investment in Sierra Leone is still consider below the minimum appreciable level in terms its contribution to poverty alleviation, food security, gender equality, youth employment, environmental conservation and more. Therefore, from small scale producers to middle-level actors to large scale investors, there are several issues to recount against investment in agriculture in Sierra Leone.

The UN Committee on Food Security formulated and endorsed ten principles of responsible investment in agriculture in 2014. Sierra Leone, a UN member country has ratified the principles and through support from the German government through FAO, the implementation of the CFS-RAI has made some significant gains including the increased national awareness, inclusive stakeholders support and the formulation of a seven step Agribusiness Approval Process (AIAP) by the Sierra Leone Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SLIEPA).  

What are we doing?

We are a member of the sub-committee of the Technical Working Group on RAI (RAI-TWG).  As a direct support to the process, we are guiding the MAP decentralization process to ensure that private sector pay active role, are incorporated as members of the multi-stakeholder groups and are listened to. In our four operational districts, we have encouraged the investment entities to become members of the District Muti-Stakeholder Platforms (DMSPs).

Beyond that, we are also directly monitoring the activities of investment entities our operational communities and beyond. We try to identify conflict indicators, engage communities and investment stakeholders to address grievances that may lead to conflict, but doing so from a human right-based position.