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Two-thirds of Sierra Leone’s population engages in subsistence farming. Farmers, mostly women, work in an informal and precarious system, without legal title to the land. Following the country’s 11-year civil war, the Sierra Leone government began a belated process to modernize its land tenure system and put in place enabling policies so that every piece of land is used most economically.
Sierra Leone is no stranger to reforming policies or drafting land tenure laws. In a departure from traditional policymaking, for the first time in the country’s history, ministers not only sat down with civil society and business to discuss cross-cutting issues in tenure governance, but also drafted a new land policy that was fair, easy to implement and acceptable to all, using the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT) as a guiding force.
“The successful implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines is a result of the joint efforts of the Technical Working Group, Steering Committee, Inter-Ministerial Working Group and non-state actors such as NGOs, CSOs, the private sector and traditional leaders within a structured institutional framework,” said Jobo Samba, Deputy Director of the Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing Unit at the Sierra Leone Ministry of Lands, National Planning and Environment.
Inclusive conversations lead to better work ethic and outcomes
Regularly facilitating dialogue among relevant stakeholders has improved policy coherence across ministries, leading to better outcomes, as each official brings a complementary set of skills and experience. This inclusive way of working has helped translate the new land tenure policy into activities and programmes. By working together, policy coherence has improved, as have outcomes across ministries.
“It has been a great experience: our work ethic has improved,” said Kadijatu Zainab Bangura, state counselor at the Ministry of Justice. “Instead of focusing on our own duties, we now consult and update each other monthly to get the job done together.”
Sierra Leone’s national land policy and fisheries strategy, adopted in 2015, incorporates the principles of the Voluntary Guidelines on Land Tenure, such as recognizing, respecting and upholding all legitimate land tenure holders and their rights, and preventing land tenure disputes, conflicts and corruption.
The Government considers FAO’s technical support essential in establishing an institutional framework to facilitate dialogue among all actors involved.
“FAO’s intervention throughout the process has been very useful in resolving the conflict,” explains Joseph Rahal, executive director of Green Landscapes, an organization that advocates for community rights and land ownership.
Speaking on behalf of the Government of Sierra Leone, Minister of Lands, National Planning and Environment, Fanta Diana Konomani, said: “FAO played an important role in providing technical support during the development of the plan and in mobilizing support from donors.”
The female face of agriculture
Women make up 70 percent of Sierra Leone’s agricultural workforce and play a vital role in natural resource management and food production. However, despite their contributions, women are often discriminated against and denied ownership, use or control of land. In addition, discriminatory, customary and statutory laws that favour men hinder the economic impact of women’s agricultural activities.
Now, thanks to new land tenure policies, farmers – men and women – can hope to build a better future without having to worry about being driven off the land.
Julia Fofanah, country manager for the Sierra Leone Conservation Alliance, an environmental NGO, explained: “It is important that women are involved as equal decision-making partners in the fair distribution of land and not be relegated to a secondary role.”
Success on the ground
Many areas in Sierra Leone are currently adopting the Voluntary Guidelines, demonstrating their ability to bring about positive and lasting change. The Kailahun and Bo District Assemblies have included them in their 2016-18 development plans.
Mohamed Fofaneh, mayor of the Potloko district, said: “It is very important to know about VGGT because I can not only train myself but also train people in the community so that they can also benefit from it.”
Participating regions are committed to raising awareness of the Voluntary Guidelines and using them to develop agricultural investment guidelines.
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