FAO.org

Freetown, Sierra Leone – On 7 December, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Mabunduka Agro Farmers Association have signed a letter of intent expressing their interest in working together on promoting green job opportunities in the agrifood sector in Sierra Leone.

Mabunduka Agro Farmers Association is a Community-Based Organization (CBO) registered under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security of Sierra Leone. The CBO has the mandate to positively enrich the livelihoods of people and communities through sustainable agriculture and empower rural people by creating economic opportunities for them to increase their income and improve their livelihood in the agriculture sector. 

While agriculture remains the largest employer in the world, it is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, the largest user, and a significant polluter of water, and can cause both land degradation and loss of biodiversity. However, the agriculture sector can be part of the solution.

Creating green jobs in agriculture – meaning sustainable jobs that contribute to preserve or restore the environment – can provide innovative solutions to climate change and environmental degradation, while supporting decent work for vulnerable and marginalized population in rural areas. FAO is striving to provide green jobs across agrifood systems, as a strategy of mitigation and adaption to climate change.

This collaboration with Mabunduka Agro Farmers Association will allow both parties to support sustainable employment creation in the agricultural sector, providing a space for knowledge transfer on decent employment opportunities for youth in agroecology, which includes organic horticulture and apiculture.

"FAO and Mabunduka Agro Farmers Association are joining forces to improve the livelihoods of rural youth through sustainable vegetable production", said Adja Fatou Diop Ndiaye, Mabunduka Project Manager.

“Through this letter of intent,  we are looking to provide rural youth with sustainable skills and green jobs to achieve climate-smart-agriculture transformation, and support the implementation of the newly launched Agriculture Flagship Programme Feed Salone,” said Abdulai Bangura, FAO National Project Coordinator.

This partnership will build on the expertise of both organizations. FAO has been implementing the Green Jobs for Rural Youth Employment project in Sierra Leone since 2019. The project aims at providing skills and green jobs for rural youth in the agrifood sector and to strengthen the capacity of public and private actors in order to guide youth employment policies and entrepreneurship schemes conducive to the green economy.

Mabunduka is working with 10 communities across several districts with a focus on women and youth. The CBO is serving as a learning centre to produce sustainable vegetables and other crops such as cassava and cashew nuts.