Sierra Leone is the third hungriest country in the world – says Global Hunger Index

Yusuf Keketoma Sandi

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 2 November 2017

If you are a voter and looking for any more reason why the APC should be voted out on 7th March 2018, then the latest 2017 Global Hunger Index has shown the scale of their incompetence.

This is not a report published by SLPP or any opposition Political Party in Sierra Leone. Rather, it is jointly published by three renowned international organisations: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.

And the data from which the Global Hunger Index ranks countries around the world are not from the SLPP or any opposition Political Party, the data are from respected international agencies like Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, United Nations Children’s Fund, The World Health Organisation, The world Bank and The United Nations Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.

Since APC came to power, many of these donor agencies have poured millions of dollars supporting Government programmes, and the data are very credible.

Most embarrassingly, the 2017 Global Hunger Index has ranked Sierra Leone third from the bottom with a shocking score of 38.5, putting the country only above Chad – scoring 43.5 and Central African Republic scoring 50.9.

The scoring means that Sierra Leone is ranked at 117th out of 119 countries which puts us at the unenviable position of third hungriest country in the World.

If that was not shameful enough, the 2017 Global Hunger Index Report names Sierra Leone as one of eight countries suffering from extremely alarming or alarming levels of hunger. The other seven countries include Yemen, Central African Republic, Chad, Liberia, Madagascar, Sudan and Zambia.

However, despite these countries being grouped in this category, the level of hunger is still higher in Sierra Leone than all the other countries, except for Chad and Central African Republic.

The ranking of Sierra Leone by the 2017 Global Hunger Index is far worst when you compare Sierra Leone to other West African countries. With the score of 38.5, Sierra Leone ranks as the Hungriest Country in West Africa and the Mano River Union.

The level of hunger in Sierra Leone is higher than in Liberia, Guinea and even Gambia. Liberia ranks 112th with a score of 35.3; Guinea ranks 94th with a score of 28.6 and Gambia ranks 79th with a score of 23.2.

It seems in Sierra Leone, the more the APC Government shouts about “Prosperity” the hungrier the citizens become.

To understand how bad the 2017 Global Hunger Index is for Sierra Leone, you only need to compare this year’s ranking to the 2016 Global Hunger Index. As bad as the 2016 Global Hunger Index was, Sierra Leone was scored 35.0 and ranked 112th out of 118 countries, which put us seventh from the bottom.

In the 2016 Global Hunger Index, the level of hunger in Sierra Leone was lower than Yemen, Madagascar, Haiti, Zambia, Chad and Central African Republic.

In the 2017 Global Hunger Index, with the exception of Chad and Central African Republic, the level of hunger in Sierra Leone is now higher than in Yemen, Madagascar, Haiti and Zambia. From seventh we have now dropped to third bottom.

Under the APC, rather than things getting better, they are just getting worse. In a country which has the highest inflation in West Africa, gross economic mismanagement, austerity and widespread poverty, it would have been a miracle if the 2017 Global Hunger Index had ranked us any better than the bottom.

The Annual Global Hunger Index looks at three broad dimensions: inadequate food supply to the entire population, Child Mortality and Child Undernutrition.

There are also four component indicators used to calculate the Global Hunger Index scores – undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting and child mortality – and on every indicator Sierra Leone has performed abysmally.

Interestingly, this has been the trend since APC came to power. When APC came to power in 2007, the first Global Hunger Index under the APC was published in 2008, which scored the country 44.5 and put Sierra Leone fifth from the bottom above four countries namely Zambia, Timor-Leste, Chad and Central African Republic.

Year after year, the level of hunger in Sierra Leone according to annual Global Hunger Index reports has been alarming; and almost ten years under the APC, Sierra Leone has dropped from fifth bottom to third bottom in the world ranking.

For instance, in the 2008 Global Hunger Index, the level of hunger in Timor-Leste was higher than Sierra Leone and that country was third from bottom, while Sierra Leone was two spaces ahead on fifth from bottom.

Compare that to 2017 Global Hunger Index, Timor-Leste has made much progress, climbing up to tenth from bottom, whilst Sierra Leone has retrogressed by dropping down to third from bottom.

Sadly, throughout the last ten years, Sierra Leone has consistently maintained the position of the country with the highest level of hunger in West Africa.

As we approach the March 7th 2018 presidential election, Sierra Leoneans cannot risk another five years of APC. With Samura Kamara as their presidential candidate, the APC wants to continue the AGENDA FOR HUNGER by ensuring Sierra Leone continues to be ranked as the hungriest nation in West Africa and continues to rank at the very bottom of the world.

Samura Kamara has been there for the last ten years and contributed to that AGENDA FOR HUNGER. Like Rtd. Brigadier Julius Maada Bio said in his widely-acclaimed Acceptance Speech for the Presidential Candidacy of the SLPP “Enough of this bad governance because the people deserve better”.

9 Comments

  1. Sierra Leone is now under SLPP rule.The APC is gone,at least for now.Hunger doesn’t choose sides,or discriminate,it affects everyone.Time for the President and his ministers to do something to ease the sufferings of the majority of our people.

  2. The railway system that the APC government inherited from the SLPP government until the 70’s when it was destroyed by late President Siaka Stevens was the cheapest way of transporting goods from the provincial areas to the capital and now with the lack of affordable transportation and the toll road combined will continue to deteriorate the lives of our people.
    So lets continue to hope and pray for change.

  3. It is said, “an angel cannot challenge God.” The APC since their forceful entrance into the realms of rule in Sierra Leone, the country has been plagued by a litany of woes. Unlawful killings, Ebola, hunger, excessive poverty, prostitution, mudslide, malaria, premature deaths and many untold sufferings. Their counterparts – the SLPP, could be counted as clean in the increase of these woes. People did not suffer as it is today.

    I remember rice was 35,000 Leonean. Inflation did not rock Sierra Leone as it is today. The situation was 100 percent better. If it Was SLPP that had taken over since then we could be boasting of good food, not Chinese made, clean drinking water. Less accidents, love for the poor, elevation of education and all what they had started.

    Candidly speaking, the APC is good at stealing. KOROMA is a big thief. And the Bible says, Thou shall not steal. He is now a very rich man leaving the legitimate children of Sierra Leone to languish in hunger and poverty. KOROMA is corrupt. Imagine how he has corrupted his own party selecting someone to be their flag bearer. They even apologize to him when he is wrong.

    Imagine Victor Foh going round to tell their supporters rubbish. Imagine JFK going to Makeni after he was snubbed for the candidacy and someone hand picked. This is all reducing our democracy and reaping the good out of the community. People should think of the old belful to vote SLPP, those who have always raised the people from APC’s dust to glory.

    If they continue to rule us for the other five years, they will sell the country to Guinea and Liberia by part. This is sad. Their continuous rule will make the country take the last position in poverty and hunger. Then Many will die of starvation. Their APC party house in Makeni is far more advanced than the political science block in FBC.

    SLPP say no to APC this time round and be watchful because they are thieves. When shall I see my home? I have been wandering through out my life for peace at home where I belong.

  4. Starvation? After causing the civil war, APC has again landed salone among the worst places to be on earth? Starving people is crime against humanity. Posterity will see Maada Bio as abetting with Ernest Koroma if the next government fails to prosecute all those who squandered ebola & mudslide victims’ funds, proceeds from the second biggest diamond and those responsible for starving Sierra Leoneans.

    A motion to ban APC for life cannot be an over exaggeration. Sierra Leoneans do not deserve this mess which is why no civilized country is taking Sierra Leone seriously. The proof is that unlike struggling Liberia, no sitting British foreign minister has visited Sierra Leone like Hilary Clinton did to Liberia on two occasions. Let the next obvious government begin earmarking APC officials to be tried in court and ensure the precedence becomes a tradition.

  5. Sierra Leone have seen her worst – by far APC (KOROMA) is the most dangerous government Sierra Leone have ever produced. The lives they have taken is in millions and the country’s resources they have stolen is in trillions, the agenda for change was a real regression, from positive Sierra Leone to a negative one.

    Wake up Sierra Leone, dream big, do not be fooled this time round. Avoid tribalistic thinking, put Sierra Leone first and vote for a reason. Thank you.

  6. In S/Leone people are hungry for food and politicians are hungry for power and money, feeding the people with lies and promises. Who else can they trust this time?

    My people, you better work hard to improve situation than relying on politicians. But as the saying goes, you better carry on with the devil you know than the one living under the shadow of a dead tree. This is your time – the choice is yours.

  7. Lol, AGENDA FOR HUNGER? The APC have engendered the Agenda for Indiscipline and Violence, the Agenda for Corruption and Graft, the Agenda for Hunger, the Agenda for Austerity, the Agenda for Misrule etc etc, the list is endless.

  8. One can hardly imagine the problems Sierra Leone had encountered since APC came to power. Hunger is the bread of the day in which many people have just a meal per day – if it is possible. Will the dying government do something to better the situation and at least make it less horrible for Sierra Leoneans to live a bit of a happy life?

    Sierra Leone has become the comedy of the day in all the African countries and the world at large. Please, brothers and sisters do not allow this government to rule the country again. Try to choose someone who cares more for the people than his/her pocket.

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