SIERRA LEONE NOT IN FOOD CRISIS - YET

C O N F I D E N T I A L FREETOWN 000221

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

PLEASE PASS STATE FOR AF/W

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/13/2018
TAGS: EAID EAGR PREL SL
SUBJECT: SIERRA LEONE NOT IN FOOD CRISIS - YET

REF: FREETOWN 204

Classified By: Ambassador June Carter Perry for reasons 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (C) The Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) has yet to
declare a food emergency, but rising prices and limited
ability to mitigate the ensuing economic and social
ramifications will lead them to do so in the coming days,
based on comments by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to both
the Ambassador and the Deputy Chief of Mission (Note: We have
no yet received an official GoSL request. End Note.).
Assessments detailing the potential shortfall in food and
necessary donor support are being conducted, in conjunction
with the GoSL, over the next week by experts from the World
Food Program. The USAID regional food expert arrived
in-country on May 12 to gather information from key
stakeholders for USG response data. The donor community as a
whole is awaiting the results of these various assessments
before committing resources. The embassy will provide further
details as they become available in septel.


2. (C) COMMENT: The GoSL's reticence to declare a state of
emergency or make official requests for aid, to this point,
is not a sign that Sierra Leone is immune from the affects of
the global food crisis. As reported reftel, scarcity is not
yet an issue, but the high prices are being felt deeply and
painfully in the pockets of an already economically
compromised country. Official, public calls for support could
inflame an anxious but relatively calm nation into full-scale
panic - a situation the GoSL is working hard to avoid. The
assessments will likely show that the food crisis will be
dire in Sierra Leone without ameliorative assistance. A
request for aid via diplomatic channels, when made, will
likely be done quietly and urgently. END COMMENT.
PERRY