Bilateral Meeting with His Excellency Julius Maada Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone

Freetown - The FAO Director-General met with His Excellency Julius Maada Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone in Freetown during his official visit to the country.

The President welcomed the Director-General and thanked him for accepting his invitation and conveyed appreciation on behalf of the government and the people of Sierra Leone indicating that the visit would further strengthen their long-standing cooperation and joint commitment to the mandate of FAO to achieve food security. The President further stated that food security remained a priority for the government as it was a major propellant for economic development, noting that although Sierra Leone had many mineral resources   agriculture remained a more viable option for economic development and for improving the livelihoods of rural populations, and therefore there was a need to strengthen, improve and transform the country’s agrifood system through technically informed agriculture and well-informed policies based on scientific research.

The President further informed that the government had embarked on an aggressive path of attaining food security through the FEED SALONE initiative, and that to achieve this ambitious and decisive initiative, the government would continue to tap into the extensive knowledge, expertise and technical reservoir of FAO. Finally, the President thanked the Director-General for FAO’s support in including Sierra Leone in the Pandemic Fund to assist livestock development.

The Director-General thanked the President for the warm welcome and informed that FAO remained committed to support Sierra Leone’s agriculture development agenda. He referred to the recently concluded session of the FAO Ministerial Meeting and reaffirmed that FAO would continue to execute its mandate and honour its obligations towards its Members in helping them achieve food security and attain economic development. He further indicated that diversification through production and commercialization of agricultural products could speed up momentum in this regard. The Director-General also noted that by strengthening and developing cash products by supporting youth start-ups to create digital platforms and showcase their products to potential investors could also create jobs, reduce high levels of unemployment and lead to economic growth.

Finally, the Director-General was pleased to inform that FAO and Sierra Leone were working together to develop the country’s investment plan to be presented to potential investors during the Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum during the World Food Forum in October this year. 

Both agreed to continue to work together to achieve agrifood systems transformation, rural development and food security in Sierra Leone.