Peri-urban vegetable production - a food and income supplement for poor urban dwellers in Gloucester community, Freetown, Sierra Leone

In the past 10 to 15 years, the population of Freetown which is the capital of Sierra Leone has in-creased exponentially due to rural-urban migration mainly because of the quest of seeking better opportunities in the big City. This exponential increase in the population has led to food insecurity and an increase in the poverty level in Freetown. Ultimately, this research tends to investigate how agriculture, especially vegetable production has helped in supplementing the food and income status of low-income dwellers in the peri-urban areas of Sierra Leone, with the intention of fathoming the pattern, level of production, and contribution to food security. I employed the technique of the mapping survey and interviewing to properly understand, evaluate and assess how vegetable production has helped to supplement the income and food basket of low income households in the Gloucester village, and according to the result therein, vegetable production has so far helped in supplementing the food and income status of dwellers in the community, but however, Peri-Urban agriculture faces some challenges in terms of the availability of farmland, capital to buy farming tools and seeds, etc. It is also important to note that this research is a contribution to the already existing works of literature on Urban and Peri-urban agriculture, although, it focuses mainly on vegetable production within the scope of the sustainable livelihood framework.