By Sulaiman Aruna Sesay

As the world becomes increasingly globalized, it is easy to forget about our local food products. As a nation, engaging in planting and consuming locally grown food is highly important for numerous reasons.

Local food products are often fresher and more nutritious than their imported counterparts. When food is grown and consumed locally, it has a shorter distance to travel and is therefore less likely to lose nutrients during transportation. Local farmers in Sierra Leone often use fewer pesticides and other chemicals that can harm both the environment and human health.

It is also important to know that, local food production supports small-scale farmers, which helps to maintain the local economy and provides jobs to individuals within the community. When farmers are able to sell their produce locally, they are able to earn a fair wage for their labour, which in turn helps to keep the local economy thriving.

From an environmental perspective, planting local food products can also help to reduce our carbon footprint. When we consume food that has been imported from other parts of the world, it often needs to be transported by airplane, ship, or truck, all of which generate greenhouse gas emissions. By consuming locally grown foods, we can reduce the amount of energy required for transportation and thereby decrease our impact on the environment.

It is clearly evident that planting local food products is that it helps to preserve biodiversity. When we plant traditional, locally-adapted crops, we are promoting genetic diversity and maintaining biodiversity within our ecosystems. This is crucial for the health and sustainability of our environment, as well as for our ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions in the future.

Planting and consuming local food products is essential for many reasons, including promoting nutritional health, supporting local economies, reducing our carbon footprint, and preserving biodiversity. As consumers, it is important that we prioritize locally grown products whenever possible, and support local farmers and food producers so that we can continue to enjoy the benefits of these important food sources for generations to come.