As Sierra Leoneans prepare to celebrate the 47th anniversary of their country’s independence on Sunday, the mood is not festive, but bitter, as people find it more difficult to put food on the table.
Rising food prices have swept the West African state, and have also raised expectations on the government to act to soften the blow for consumers.
The skyrocketing price of rice — the price of a 50kg sack has more than doubled over the past two months to $55 — has hit particularly hard as it is the main dish for most Sierra Leoneans.
It easily makes up three-quarters of an average meal here, and there is a Sierra Leonean saying that you haven’t eaten if rice wasn’t part of the meal.
”We no longer eat rice but sweet potatoes, yam and cassava, but they are not quite as filling as rice,” single parent Agnes Koroma complained as she shopped at the Krootown Road market in the west of the city.
As one of her four children clung to her side and whined for rice, Koroma had little patience.
”We don’t want to hear speeches. It’s not enough to say it is a worldwide occurrence. The government needs to act to lessen prices on locally produced goods such as onions, tomatoes and others,” she said.
”If this is not done quickly, I think people will start demonstrating,” Koroma warned as she fished out wads of crumpled leones, the local currency, to pay for several litres of cooking oil.
The government, which spent $50-million to import rice last year, is to establish a task force to look into adjusting duties and tariffs to cushion the effect of rising prices, said Deputy Trade Minister Mabinty Daramy.
”We are also ready to give loans to credible local organisations which want to undertake farming,” she added.
The government is moving to boost domestic agricultural production to reduce dependence on increasingly costly imports.
About 147 000ha have been designated as priority for irrigation.
”They can give us two to three harvests of rice and other crops a year to feed the nation,” said Food Security Minister Sam Sesay.
Another 241 000ha of low lands suitable for irrigation have also been identified, and the government is looking to boost by nearly two-thirds the number of tractors it has made available to farmers to satisfy demand.
Sesay pleaded that ”the rise in the price of rice should not be treated as a political or party issue because the hunger bullet has no boundary”, but the patience of most Sierra Leoneans appears to be wearing thin.
Consumers and traders alike agree that ”things are really bad and that there is little sign of a change in the short term”.
Butchers who once ran thriving business are on the verge of bankruptcy.
Alpha Jalloh, a meat seller complained of the high cost of cattle.
”I buy my cows and bring them across the border from Guinea, Gambia and Mali but can no longer afford that venture,” he said.
”Our customers are angry with us. They feel we are cheating them because a kilo of meat now costs $3 instead of $1. When we tell them that the cow itself is now between $200 to $300, some of them say, go to hell.”
Another trader, Mariama Turay, who brings tomatoes and onions from nearby Guinea, said ”we are in a crunch as many of our goods now perish because people just can’t buy them”.
The government’s recent ban on the export of palm oil, used by most Sierra Leoneans for cooking, has been widely acclaimed, but housewives are calling for the authorities to become ”an active player” to limit increases in the cost of living.
For many, the spiralling food prices have not only crimped the ability to put on a spread to mark independence day, but to put food on the table every day.
”It has made life unbearable for me and my family and we no longer sit together to have meals as before as we can no longer afford it. We just eat anywhere and any time that we can make ends meet,” complained Salieu Bendu, a 36-year-old night watchman.
”I have to leave my house hours before taking up night duty to avoid my children asking me for more food,” he said. — AFP
