SERVICES & MURIALDO STUDENTS WIN AT THE SECOND SIERRA LEONE WORLD FOOD PRIZE YOUTH INSTITUTE

The Second Sierra Leone World Food Prize Youth Institute, held at the Country Lodge in Freetown, Sierra Leone, has been Co-organized in partnership with the World Food Prize Foundation, the Ministry of Agriculture & Food Security Feed Salone Initiative and the Food Systems Resilience Program. The event showcased 16 youth-driven solutions to agricultural development and food security. The World Food Prize Foundation aims to empower the next generation of scientific leaders and agricultural innovators. Through youth institutes and the Borlaug-Ruan International Internship, the Foundation connects young minds with international research centers. The first female finalist Nancy Koyama and co-finalist Sahr Joseph Moripeh, inspired this year’s sixteen student presenters with testimonies of their own experiences with their Borlaug Ruan International Internships in Kenya under the World Food Prize Foundation. Professor Bashiru Koroma said Sierra Leone’s journey towards food security requires solutions in storage, transport and value chain transition from the farm to the table. He said this would provide jobs and livelihood for farm entrepreneurs, agricultural scientists and agricultural engineers. As vice Chancellor for Njala University, he extended the opportunity for youth agricultural learning to happen on campus during the holidays. Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education Conrad Sackey reaffirmed his faith in the exemplary performance of students since the government committed over a fifth of its resources to education. He said the class room and the farm were both fields of learning and could complement each other by cultivating and harvesting solutions for mutual and widespread benefits, a sentiment shared by Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Dr. Henry Musa Kpaka, who awarded this year’s finalists; Aminata Kabba from the Services Secondary School who won based on her research on community rainwater harvesting and Murialdo secondary Student Komeh David Issa who also presented on water security for strengthening food security: Because over 60% of Sierra Leone’s population is under 25, transforming youth into agricultural entrepreneurs and researchers is essential for long-term food security.