Freetown, 23rd June, 2026 — Sierra Leone’s agricultural sector is set for a major boost following the World Bank Group’s approval of a $40 million International Development Association (IDA) grant to finance the Sustainable Agricultural Value-chains Intensification for Growth (SAVIG) project.
The initiative is designed to strengthen productivity, attract private investment, and expand job creation across priority value chains, positioning agriculture as a driver of inclusive economic growth and food security.
Agriculture remains the backbone of Sierra Leone’s economy, employing most of the rural population and contributing significantly to GDP. Yet productivity has long been constrained by limited access to inputs, weak market linkages, and underdeveloped institutional frameworks. The SAVIG project seeks to address these structural challenges through targeted investments in production systems, post-harvest handling, processing, and market integration.
“This operation is addressing two of Sierra Leone’s most pressing challenges — unemployment and food insecurity — at once,” said Abdu Muwonge, World Bank Country Manager for Sierra Leone. “By strengthening value chains, this investment will improve livelihoods while laying the foundation for a more diversified and resilient economy.”
The project will directly support the Government’s Feed Salone Strategy, which aims to create at least 35,000 formal jobs in agriculture. With Sierra Leone currently generating only 41,000 jobs annually against a need for 75,000 new jobs each year through 2050, the SAVIG project is expected to help close the employment gap by expanding both farm and off-farm opportunities.
World Bank Lead Agricultural Specialist Vinay Kumar Vutukuru emphasized the project’s systems-wide approach: “We are investing not just in production, but in the full value chain — from farm to market. By catalyzing private investment alongside public support, we expect lasting improvements in incomes, employment, and food security.”
Particular attention will be given to women and youth, who make up a large share of Sierra Leone’s agricultural workforce. By fostering stronger connections between smallholder farmers, agribusinesses, and buyers, the project aims to unlock untapped potential in value addition and downstream segments of the sector.
The $40 million grant signals renewed confidence in Sierra Leone’s agriculture as a platform for economic transformation, with expectations that the sector will evolve into a more competitive, resilient, and job-creating engine of growth.
