ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the question of urban food security in and around Freetown and explores an increasingly important response to the rising demand for food in the city: a proliferation of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA). It also highlights how UPA activities may be currently driving resurgence in community-based associations amongst young people, a development that could have important implications for shaping wider change in the post-conflict period. The chapter explores the knowledge and perceptions of urban farmers who are involved in Freetown's grassroots UPA associations, with a particular interest in youth participation. A variety of economic and human development indicators suggest that Sierra Leone continues to be ranked as one of the world's poorest countries, and concerns amongst international donors and government policymakers about rising levels of urban unemployment and food insecurity have returned to centre stage.
