This landscape analysis provides an overview of Sierra Leone’s agricultural extension services system. It also provides information on the prevalence of poverty, nutrition and gender related issues in the country with special focus on rural areas. Current agricultural extension and nutrition policies, and their implications for the engagement of USAID and other donors, are highlighted. Moreover, the on-going projects by USAID and other donors in the country in relation to extension, gender, and nutrition impacts can provide a reference point for policy makers and other actors in extension, nutrition, and genderfocused programming in Sierra Leone and elsewhere. Agricultural advisory and extension services (henceforth refered to simply as extension) are widely recognized as important for improving the agricultural productivity and incomes of the rural poor because of the prospect to link farmers with improved agricultural innovations, information, and resources (Abdulai, 2016; GFRAS 2015; Davis, 2008).

This analysis was prepared under the framework of the Integrating Gender and Nutrition within Agricultural Extension Services (INGENAES) project is funded through the Bureau for Food Security (BFS) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to support the United States Government Global Feed the Future (FTF) Initiative1. FTF strives to increase agricultural productivity and the incomes of both men and women in rural areas who rely on agriculture for their livelihoods.

Landscape analysis like this one are available for almost all of the FTF countries and readily accessible at http://ingenaes.illinois.edu/library. The purpose of these analyses is to provide a backdrop for the INGENAES project as it engages with stakeholders in each country to find ways of integrating gender and nutrition in extension. In each country the nature of the engagement varies slightly, depending on the needs and opportunities jointly identified by prospective partners and the INGENAES team as well as recommendations by USAID BFS and the USAID country missions. The landscape analyses are a snapshot in time that are intended to be updated periodically. They are intended to inform a broad range of stakeholders about the status agriculture, agricultural extension, gender issues, and nutrition challenges, as well as major programs that are being implemented to improve food and nutrition security. It is hoped that having these reports publicly available will inform the debate on how to make progress and to more widely share information about what measures are already being undertaken.