German Ambassador Hails New Land Policy

German Ambassador Hails New Land Policy

By Abdul Kandeh Turay

The Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Sierra Leone, Wolfgang Wiethoff, has lauded the formulation of the new National Land Policy (NLP) by the Government of Sierra Leone and pledged the German diplomatic team’s technical support towards its actualization.

He made this statement during the landmark opening ceremony of the national land governance conference held from Monday 11 – Wednesday 13 July 2016 at the Sierra Leone Police Officer’s Mess, Kingtom, in Freetown.

The three days conference was organized by Culture Radio 104.5 and Green Scenery with support from Bread for the World and Welt Hunger Hilfe.

Delivering his keynote speech on the theme ‘Our land - Our Right - Our Responsibility’, the German Ambassador said the population of Sierra Leone depends on an efficient land policy to improve on food security and job opportunities.

According to the ambassador, Sierra Leone, with its huge agricultural potential, could provide enough food not only for home consumption, but also for exporting.

He raised serious concern over the plight of rural farmers whom he said depend largely on land availability for their livelihood.

The majority of the people in Sierra Leone, Wiethoff said, depend on farming.

Farming, he maintained, has however remain in a very small scale and food supply insufficient due to the inequitable distribution of lands.

called for the laws to be applied without discrimination, noting that farming is the alternative for the rural poor.

The Ambassador also called for an economic transformation which he said is needed for the protection of livelihood for the rural population that depends largely on farming.

He encouraged civil society organizations to intensify their advocacy for the equitable distribution of land as a solution to the current land situation in the country, based on the rule of law.

As implementation seems to be indispensible, he said CSOs should play a vital part to improve on the quality of lives of the rural farmers who form bulk of the population and at the greatest risk to be deprived from land distribution.

The people of Sierra Leone, he explained, should say which direction they want to go.

The three days conference was officially opened by the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Charles Rogers.