Ocean grabbing: a threath to food security in Sierra Leone

1. A historical return and state of play of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone's first Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) considers a number of short-to medium-term challenges that should not only impact immediately the living conditions of people but also lay solid foundations to address the long-term causes of conflict and poverty. The continuous progress since the cessation of the civil war in January 2002 was facilitated by the government's various initiative to look ahead and rebuild the country. Ahead of the end of the civil war, the government of Sierra Leone designed the Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (IPRSP) in June 2001. Coupled with the National Recovery Strategy (NRS) created in 2002, the goal was to support the transition from peace-keeping to peace-building. Later, in 2003 the drafting of Vision 2025 intended to reduce poverty on longer term, supported the IPRSP and the NRS. With the re-election of Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, the government has maintained its efforts to reduce poverty and improve food security, among other things and developed the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper 2005-07 (SL-PRSP), which for the first and last time introduced the concept of right to food. The Agenda for Change (AfC) inaugurated in 2008, is the second generation of Sierra Leone's PRSP. With a particular focus on development, it was designed in the midst of the 2007 food crisis. Taking over for the AfC, the Agenda of Prosperity 2013-2018 (A4P) aimed at creating a `middle-income country by 2035' (AFDB 2013). The third generation of poverty reduction strategy paper introduces the environmental aspect as a possible constraint to the implementation of the different measures. In line with the desire to be self-sufficient in rice, the government has developed the specially designed PRSP for this issue in 2009 in the form

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of the National Rice Development Strategy (NRDS). Finally, the most recent initiative took shape in the National Ebola Recovery Strategy (NERS) in 2015 as a response to the official end of the epidemic.

a. Sierra Leone: an example to be followed. From political disruption to peaceful democratic transition

18 January 2002, President Kabbah officially declared the Sierra Leone civil war over. Since then the country recorded an impressive progress in peace and state-building promoted by the government's strategy papers. Sierra Leone experienced a shared political power, a democratic transition demonstrated by four elections. But the success of peace-building must be nuanced as the country is subject to a certain instability that, in comparison to its neighbours, is less the outcome of ethnic and religious antagonism, than it is the result of a long-standing poor governance, prevalent corruption and a weak central power (GoSL 2005). Nonetheless, three rather peaceful elections after the last military coup¹³ and the respect of political changeover is uncommon in the region and it is how Sierra Leone stands out from neighbouring countries and represent a real example.

b. A failed economy model resulting in a struggling economy

During the 20 years that followed Sierra Leone's independence in 1961, the economy grew rather modestly. In addition, the 80's marked a stagnation followed by a decline «on account of misguided economic policies and economic mismanagement» (GoSL 2005). Since then Sierra Leone has endured a constant economic volatility, from encouraging surges to concerning drops. The successful implementation of the IPRSP and NRS forged an economic recovery throughout 2004. The country demonstrated high economic growth rates scoping from 6% to 15% yearly, and saw its mining industry boom in 2011 when iron ore was discovered. Subsequently, it became Sierra Leone's second most important GDP input right behind agriculture. The mining industry represented the main driver of the economy and even saw a 21% growth rate in 2013. However, the economy was driven mainly by agriculture and mineral production (AFDB 2013). As a result, in 2015, when iron ore's price dropped in the world market combined with the EVO Sierra Leone's economy faced a

¹³ The last military coup happened in 1997 when elected president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was deposed but later resumes his duties as president in 1998 and completed his term.

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depreciation in activity with a 20.6% contraction (AFDB s.d.). Indeed, despite an average annual growth rate of 7.8% between 2003 and 2014, economic growth stalled to 4.3% in 2017 despite new investments in mining, agriculture and fisheries and due to a limited recovery from the iron ore price fall (World Bank 2018). Although the economy experienced positive economic growth in the last decade and proved resilient in the face of the Ebola epidemic and collapse of iron ore prices, it still excessively depends on international aid, with about 50% of public investment programs financed by external resources (UNDP s.d.). Nonetheless, the African Development Bank Group in its 2018 outlook projects that Sierra Leone's GDP will grow from 6.1% in 2018 to 6.5% next year (AFDB 2018).

c. The struggle for development

With great international assistance, progress was achieved in strengthening security, restoring social sectors, and supporting the vulnerable. For example, the road network mostly destroyed by the civil war, is in rehabilitation with international aid provided essentially by the European Union (France s.d.). But despite the strong performance of the IPRSP and AfC, Sierra Leone's growth is generally non-inclusive and undiversified. Therefore, poverty rates are still high with 53% in 2011 compared to 66% in 2003 (AFDB 2013). Notwithstanding the country's agricultural potential, the consequences of corruption, the effects of war and the underinvestment translated in a decreased capacity of the country to provide staple food for its population, causing to some extent the worsening of poverty (Steve Wiggins 2010). Still, thanks to substantial efforts made by the government, Sierra Leone has managed to improve its socio-economic indicators. For instance, Sierra Leone's Human Development Index (HDI) progressed from 0.302 in 2000¹⁴ to 0.420 in 2015 (UNDP 2016). Despite the achievement of moving upward in the index, the country lags behind the Sub-Saharan Africa HDI average of 0.475 and ranks below most African countries for multiple other social well-being indicators. Also indicative of slow development the unemployment rates remain high especially with the younger population. It is estimated that 70% of youth is unemployed or underemployed in Sierra Leone (UNDP s.d.). Furthermore, in 2014, Sierra Leone was severely affected by the worst Ebola epidemic since the first diagnosis in 1976 (GoSL 2015). According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the Ebola virus killed 3,956 Sierra Leoneans and infected 8706 others (Kaner et

¹⁴ Sierra Leone ranked last at of 187 countries echoing the ongoing civil war

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Schaack 2016). As a response, the government designed the NERS in 2015. The consequences of the EVO combined with the fallout of the iron ore's price drop represent a major setback in the achievement of the A4P with the surge in poverty levels and vulnerability (GoSL 2015).