Sierra Leone is located in Western Africa, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Guinea and Liberia, and covers a land area of 71,740 km2. Its population is estimated at approximately 6 million (2008), and, given an average annual growth rate of 2.1 per cent, is projected to double by 2050. About 42 per
cent of the population is under 15 years of age and almost 75 per cent is under 35 years of age. While the human resource base represents a huge potential for development, it is estimated that at present 60 per cent of ‘young people’ (ranging from non-school-going 15-year-olds to 35-year-old adults) are either unemployed or underemployed.
5. Sierra Leone belongs to the group of least developed countries and has qualified for the Debt Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries. The country meets criteria established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for classification as a low-income food deficit country. The United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report for 2009 (based on 2007 data) ranks Sierra Leone 180 out of 182 countries on the human development index. The total adult literacy rate is 38.1 per cent, while the female literacy rate is 26.8 per cent. Life expectancy at birth is 41.8 years.

Interests: Agricultural transformation; peasant farming; women's economies; land grabs