ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that cooperative agriculture must be voluntary, rather than obligatory, if ventures between ex-combatants and civilians are to thrive. It illuminate how civilian resentment of being forced to cooperate with ex-combatants, whom they already viewed as benefiting unfairly from post-war aid - ultimately resulted in the project's failure. The chapter suggests that food security be treated separately from reconciliation programmes in post-war aid. The National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (NCDDR) was established in 2001 to prepare ex-combatants for civilian life and create opportunities for reconciliation. The civil war in Sierra Leone between 1991 and 2001 had a devastating effect on agriculture. The fighting, which involved the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels, government forces and local civil militias, forced many farmers to flee their villages. Four former members of the RUF registered the Polong Agricultural Development Organization (PADO) in 2002, having solicited a participation agreement from the village of Malempa.
