Sierra Leone - Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis, December 2015

The 2015 Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis (CFSVA) was conducted at a time when the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) epidemic started to recede in Sierra Leone. Data was collected using smart phones between September and October 2015, at the end of the “lean season” when the rains are heavy and frequent, roads become inaccessible (limiting people’s ability to access markets) and food stocks become depleted. The 2015 CFSVA surveyed a total of 34,328 households across all of Sierra Leone’s 149 chiefdoms and 18 urban wards, making it the largest ever food security assessment of its kind in the country. At the request of the Government, the survey disaggregates its results to the chiefdom level, the smallest administrative unit in Sierra Leone. This micro-level analysis enables the Government and its development partners to invest in pinpointed programming. The aim is to successfully target the most vulnerable in order to drive economic recovery as the country continues to implement the National Ebola Recovery Strategy (NERS). The results thus provide an unprecedented insight into the state of food security in Sierra Leone.