To Advance Climate-Resilient Food Systems… CCSL, FECCIWA and AFSA Launch Agroecology Initiative in Sierra Leone

By Sahr Ibrahim Komba

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The Council of Churches in Sierra Leone (CCSL), in partnership with the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in West Africa (FECCIWA) and with support from the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), has launched the Agroecology for Climate Action Initiative to advance climate-resilient food systems, strengthen food security, and promote sustainable agriculture in Sierra Leone.

The launch builds on the findings of a Policy Mapping and Stakeholder Engagement Study commissioned by CCSL to assess how agroecology is reflected in Sierra Leone’s climate, agriculture, environment, land, and gender policy frameworks. The study found that Sierra Leone has an increasingly supportive policy environment for agroecology. Key policy instruments—including the Climate Change Act (2024), Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0), the Feed Salone Strategy, the Customary Land Rights Act (2022), and the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act (2022)—provide important opportunities for integrating agroecological approaches into national development efforts. Notably, NDC 3.0 explicitly identifies Food System Transformation (Agroecology) as a priority intervention for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Despite these positive developments, the study found that agroecology remains insufficiently integrated across national policy frameworks. While many policies promote sustainable agriculture, climate resilience, biodiversity conservation, sustainable land management, and gender equality, agroecology is rarely recognised as a coherent cross-sectoral approach. The study concludes that Sierra Leone’s principal challenge is not the absence of supportive policies, but the need to strengthen policy coherence, institutional coordination, implementation, research, agricultural extension services, and investment to accelerate the transition to resilient and sustainable food systems.

Stakeholder consultations conducted as part of the study revealed broad support for agroecology among government institutions, research organisations, civil society, development partners, and farming communities. The findings also showed that many smallholder farmers already practise agroecological methods—including intercropping, agroforestry, composting, crop rotation, mulching, and mixed farming—even though many are unfamiliar with the term “agroecology.” This demonstrates that agroecology builds on existing local knowledge and farming practices that can be strengthened through supportive policies, research, and investment.

Through the initiative, CCSL, FECCIWA, and AFSA will promote policy dialogue, public awareness, media engagement, and multi-stakeholder collaboration to advance agroecology as a practical pathway for strengthening climate resilience, protecting biodiversity, restoring ecosystems, and improving food security. The initiative will also foster collaboration among government institutions, farmers’ organisations, research institutions, faith-based organisations, civil society organisations, and development partners to support evidence-based policy reforms and sustainable agricultural development.

Through this partnership, CCSL, FECCIWA, and AFSA reaffirm their shared commitment to supporting evidence-based advocacy, strengthening policy implementation, and promoting resilient food systems that improve the lives and livelihoods of farming communities across Sierra Leone.