The Sierra Leone government has handed over 20,000 bags of locally produced rice for use in the 2026/27 Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, a move officials say will support school meals while providing a market for local farmers.
The handover took place on Tuesday at the World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse in Freetown, where the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Henry Musa Kpaka, presented the rice to the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Conrad Sackey.
The programme, implemented by the World Food Programme in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, forms part of the government’s Feed Salone initiative, which aims to strengthen domestic food production and improve market access for Sierra Leonean farmers.
Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Kpaka described the procurement as an example of the Feed Salone agenda in action. He said support from the World Bank-funded Food Systems Resilience Programme (FSRP) had enabled the WFP to purchase rice directly from local farmers, helping to increase agricultural production, improve rural incomes and strengthen food security.
He said the procurement builds on last year’s programme, during which the WFP purchased more than 2,000 metric tonnes of locally produced food to provide school meals for more than 250,000 pupils in five districts.
Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education Conrad Sackey said the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme contributes to improved school attendance, better nutrition and enhanced learning outcomes for children.
WFP Country Representative Andrew Odero said the agency had procured one million kilograms of locally produced rice-equivalent to 20,000 bags of 50 kilograms-for the 2026/27 academic year.
Valued at about NLe22 million (approximately US$1 million), the rice will be distributed to schools in five districts, while providing an estimated NLe22 million in income to local farming communities through purchases from domestic producers.
