Sierra Leone UNIT 5

1. What if any plants and animals were domesticated in Sierra Leone? What were they
originally used for and what are they used for today?
No plants or animals were domesticated in Sierra Leone.

2. How is the agriculture influenced by the climate in your area, describe the climate and
what plants and animals thrive in the area. What type of farming occurs?
The climate in Sierra Leone is tropical, so it’s hot all year round and dry in the winter and there’s
a rainy season from May to November. Animals found in Sierra Leone include: Hippopotamus,
African Bush Elephant, Bongo, Duiker, Diana monkey, Guinea Baboon, Waterbuck, and many
more. Some plants found in Sierra Leone: the cotton tree, red ironwood tree, Red
mangrove,and more. The type of farming that occurs in Sierra Leone is the bush fallow system.
Up to 10 different crops are traditionally grown in mixed stands in one season, with rainfed
upland rice dominating, being grown by 96 percent of farmers. Traditionally, farmers use the
inland valley swamps for rice in the rainy season, followed in the dry season by groundnut,
vegetables, potatoes and cassava. Traditional shifting cultivation is by far the predominant
system of farming in the country. Most farmers produce a wide range of crops under rainfed
conditions. These include rice which is usually the main crop, cassava, sweet potato, maize,
sorghum, yams, groundnut, benniseed millet, okra, garden eggs, pepper and a host of leafy
vegetables.

3. How have people altered the agricultural landscape of Sierra Leone?

“Farmbush” replaces high forests after clearing for use in farming and as a source of firewood.
Farming is done in the cleared site for 2 to 3 years before it is abandoned for a short fallow
period of less than 10 years.

4. Explain agricultural advances that have led to better diet, longer lives, and more
people available to work in factories.
The creation of entirely new strains of food animals and plants in order to better address
biological and physiological needs. A departure from genetically modified food, genetically
designed food would be engineered from the ground up. Sensors help agriculture by enabling
real-time traceability and diagnosis of crop, livestock and farm machine states.

5. Describe each revolution (1st, 2nd and 3rd/Green Revolution) then give the largest
impacts on your country for each revolution.
1st- This was the origin of farming. It was marked by the first domestication of plants and
animals. Much of the farming that took place during this time was subsistence farming.
2nd- This was the origin of farming. It was marked by the first domestication of plants and
animals. Much of the farming that took place during this time was subsistence farming.
3rd/Green- Starting in the mid-20th century, science, research, and technology generated this
revolution. It involved the development and dissemination of better and more efficient farming
equipment and practices, particularly in the area of vastly improved varieties of grains.
The development of higher-yielding, disease-resistant, faster-growing varieties of grains. This
advancement in plant biology began in the mid-20th century.

6. Create a choropleth map of Sierra Leone and divide it into types of farming
(commercial types/ subsistence types)

7. Explain what countries Sierra Leone depends on to help with its food supply. This is
the interdependence among regions in your area.
Sierra Leone depends on Vietnam, France, United Arab Emirates, India and Hong Kong, China
for food.

8. Rural land use, define settlement patterns in Sierra Leone. Settlement patterns are
defined as clustered, dispersed, or linear.
The early 19th century slave trade drove many villagers into scattered, remote settlements
which were further established by increased food production, and decreased migration. The
author describes settlement patterns in Sierra Leone, which typify much of Tropical Africa. Hill
settlements, which offered security against intertribal wars, predominated in the 19th Century,
but the Hut Tax War (1989) brought tranquility and an improved economy. Today, much of rural
Sierra Leone has lost its population to diamond and iron mining areas. Modernization has
changed food, housing, settlement size, and arrangement and farming techniques. The author
emphasizes the strong environmental influences on settlement evolution and development, and
urges a greater understanding of rural settlements to aid in future planning for Tropical Africa's
people.

9. Von Thuenen’s model and explain each area and why is it located where it is in his
model, and how it applies to Sierra Leone today.
Von Thuenen developed a model of land use that showed how market processes could
determine how land in different locations would be used.
10. What are some major environmental consequences to your area due to agricultural
practices?
The combined effects of poor farming practices such as shifting cultivation, recurrent bushfires
and overgrazing, increasing population and ensuing shortening of fallow periods of land have
been recorded as contributing factors to soil erosion resulting in land degradation, which is
perceived as widespread in Sierra Leone.

11. In Sierra Leone, what are some food choice issues due to changing agricultural
practices in the area?
The dietary guidelines provide a framework for policy advice in planning nutritionally adequate,
safe and affordable dietary practices. They are detailed and inclusive and take into account the
dietary expectations, gender sensitivity and cultural realities of Sierra Leone’s diverse
communities. Furthermore, the Guidelines are designed to influence not only individual food
choices but also provide coherent policy guidance on the production of nutrient-dense foods,
social protection programmes, school meals, nutrition standards, health and agriculture
interventions that involve the commitment of diverse sectors influencing the health and
nutritional well-being of the nation

12. Describe the role of women in agriculture in the past and how that is changing in
Sierra Leone today.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations have a strong belief that
transforming gender relations in agriculture sector will also elevate the country’s social and
economic status as women make up 52% of the agricultural labour force and play essential
roles in food and nutrition security, and in the reduction of rural poverty.
 Works Cited

Von Thunen's Model of Land Use, www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/thunen.htm.

“Climate - Sierra Leone.” Sierra Leone Climate: Average Weather, Temperature, Precipitation,

Best Time, www.climatestotravel.com/climate/sierra-leone.

Hyman, Glenn, et al. “Priority Regions for Research on Dryland Cereals and Legumes.”

F1000Research, F1000Research, 7 July 2016, f1000research.com/articles/5-885.

Kaloko, F R. “African Rural Settlement Patterns.” Ekistics; Reviews on the Problems and

Science of Human Settlements, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Nov. 1983,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12143658.

“Sierra Leone Food Products Imports By Country.” WITS,

wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/SLE/Year/LTST/TradeFlow/Import/Partner/

by-country/Product/16-24_FoodProd.

“Wildlife of Sierra Leone.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Oct. 2019,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_of_Sierra_Leone.

Zappa, Michell. “15 Emerging Agriculture Technologies That Will Change The World.” Business

Insider, Business Insider, 5 May 2014, www.businessinsider.com/15-emerging-

agriculture-technologies-2014-4.