The Most Unlucky Baby in the World

A few people have been asking me about how the “world food crunch” is affecting Sierra Leone. So I’ve gone out on a little investigative reporting mission. Here’s what I’ve got.

There have been no riots or unrest due to food shortages in Sierra Leone, yet, even though the BBC reports that increases in food prices are hitting the hardest in West Africa. Sky rocketing food prices are in the news and on the minds of many here. A bag of rice has gone from 70,000 leones ($23) to 150,000 ($49) in the span of 6 months. Fuel continues to climb, currently at 16,500 ($5.50) a gallon.

The problem is compounded by the monopolized importing business, which is blamed for adding a premium on top of the already inflated prices. Sierra Leone is at the mercy of the world market because they are a net importer, which was not the case 25 years ago when they exported rice, fruit and other foods to neighbouring countries. (Photo: A boy and a pig search for something in their backyard - Kroo Bay)

People tell me that they simply reduce their intake of food, and replace items with less expensive alternatives. But that’s in Freetown. In the villages people are getting desperate. I hear stories of people getting food at work (if there is bread at a meeting) and taking it home to their kids. I am constantly giving change to our support-staff to buy lunch.

But there isn’t as much noise as I would expect. No rioting. No increase in stealing. Why? Is it that Sierra Leone is fresh off a decade of war and determined to keep the peace? It is the poor that would have to rise up, and they have little power to do so. Maybe. I also think that, although Sierra Leone is poor, they are not a starving state. They are poor because of mismanagement, corruption and conflict that destroyed their infrastructure. They have a wealth of riches. Fields are overgrown and fruit rot on the ground because people left their farms during the war. I think in the regions, the people are returning to their fields. They don’t need bags of rice. They need seeds and equipment.

The big problem lies with the refugees - the people who left the fields to save their limbs by hiding in Freetown during the war. They are still here, living in giant shantytowns under bridges and between buildings. Makeshift settlements that are becoming infamous, like Kroo Bay, which is built on a garbage dump, and others that are built on riverbanks, which flood in the rainy season. One western broadcaster is making a documentary called something like “the most unlucky baby in the world” – born in the worst slum, in the poorest country on earth. Sounds like a Disney product. eh!? (Photo: Kroo Bay settlement with Freetown in background)

It’s these people who live in the expensive Freetown with no capacity to grow food. This is where the trouble will come. Stay tuned.