Rural poverty reduction and food security, The case of smallholders in Sierra Leone

The present report from JRC analyses the results of a survey of 604 smallholders in 5 districts in the Northern and Eastern regions of Sierra Leone carried out in 2009 when the STABEX-funded projects were concluding. The purpose is on the one hand, to improve knowledge and understanding of the agri-economic and social conditions of rural areas in Sierra Leone, and on the other hand to provide a general assessment of aid programmes financed in this area by the 8th European Development Fund. For this reason, the regions selected for the survey were those representatives of the main agricultural areas of the country where support was IX provided: the Northern region largely dominated by rice farmers, and the Eastern region where rice farmers are also engaged in coffee and cocoa production under agro-forestry plots