Minister Bah Unveils How School Meals Could Create Jobs and Boost Farmers
Sierra Leone’s Minister of Information and Civic Education, Chernor Bah, has said the country can use locally sourced school meals to create agricultural markets, expand youth employment and strengthen national self-reliance.
Bah made the statement during the high-level “School Meals for the Future: Leaders Accelerating Progress” event held on the margins of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The event, co-hosted by the World Food Programme and The Rockefeller Foundation, brought together senior government officials, development leaders, philanthropists and global content creators to discuss the role of school meals in improving learning and strengthening local food systems.
Bah, who joined France’s Minister Delegate for International Partnerships, Éléonore Caroit, and youth climate educator Sage Lenier on a panel, argued that school feeding could serve as a link between children, farmers and young people seeking economic opportunities.
He pointed to Sierra Leone’s youthful population, noting that the country has a median age of about 19. He also highlighted that more than 55 percent of the country’s land is arable, while close to 60 percent of the population is involved in some form of agriculture.
“These are not disconnected facts,” Bah said. “We have millions of young people who need opportunities, farmers who need reliable markets and children who need nutritious meals.”
He said a properly designed school feeding system could connect the three areas by creating dependable markets for farmers while opening opportunities for young people throughout the agricultural value chain.
According to Bah, young people could participate as producers, processors, aggregators, transporters, technology providers and entrepreneurs supplying the school feeding system.
He also linked the approach to the government’s Feed Salone initiative and Sierra Leone’s National Civic Education Strategy, where Feed Salone is identified as the second pillar.
Bah highlighted the civic education message, “Grow what we eat. Eat what we grow,” saying it extends beyond agriculture to questions of citizenship and national responsibility.
He said young people who produce food, establish agribusinesses, develop technologies for farmers or help connect producers to schools are contributing to the country’s economic development and civic life.
“When a young Sierra Leonean grows food, builds an agribusiness, chooses locally produced rice or develops technology that connects farmers to schools, that is not only economic activity. It is civic action,” he said.
Bah said Sierra Leone should therefore look at school feeding as part of a broader strategy to build domestic production and reduce reliance on external food sources.
“The school meal is where our investment in the child meets our belief in ourselves as a country,” he said.
He concluded that locally produced school meals could simultaneously support children’s education, provide farmers with reliable markets, create employment opportunities for young people and contribute to Sierra Leone’s goal of greater national self-reliance.