Journal of Agricultural Science; Vol. 9, No. 7; 2017 ISSN 1916-9752 E-ISSN 1916-9760 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 186 Farmers’ Perspective on Sociological and Environmental Issues of Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture: A Case Study from Western and Southern Regions of Sierra Leone Osman Nabay 1 , Abdul R. Conteh 1 , Alusaine E. Samura 1 , Emmanuel S. Hinckley 1 & Mohamed S. Kamara 1 1 Sierra Leone Agricultural Research Institute (SLARI), Njala Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Freetown, Sierra Leone Correspondence: Osman Nabay, Sierra Leone Agricultural Research Institute (SLARI), Njala Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Freetown, P.O. Box 540, Sierra Leone. Tel: 232-(76)-818134. E-mail: nabayosman@yahoo.com Received: February 3, 2017 Accepted: March 22, 2017 Online Published: June 15, 2017 doi:10.5539/jas.v9n7p186 URL: https://doi.org/10.5539/jas.v9n7p186 The research is financed by the Competitive Agricultural Research Grants Scheme (CARGS) of the West and Central African Council on Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD). Abstract The paper examined and brought to the fore the typical characteristic of urban and peri-urban farmers in Freetown and Bo communities which serves as major source of supply of agricultural products into the cities’ markets. The social and environmental aspect and perception of producers involved in urban and peri-urban agriculture was examined. Descriptive statistics and pictograms were used to analyze and present the data. Results indicate that 56.34% never went to formal school and mostly dominated by women, showing that farming became the alternative means of livelihood support for those groups. Crops grown are purely influenced by market orientation—demand and cost, as is evident in Gloucester (lettuce, cabbage and spring onions). Potato leaves were commonly grown in almost all communities, reason being that it serves as common/major sauce/vegetable cooked in every household in Sierra Leone. Maize and rice were featured in Ogoo farm—government supervised land set aside purposely for growing crops to supply the city. Findings also revealed that majority of the farmers are resource poor, judging from calculation about their monthly income earning and available household assets and amenities. About 70.4% of the lands the farmers grow their crops on is leased for production. Except for Gloucester community, when costs of production will be summed, minimal benefit seem to be realized from the farming activities. Even though some of these farmers are engaged in organization, many have limited access to micro financial organization that would probably loan them money to upscale production. Keywords: urban gardening, sociological perspective, environmental perspective, Sierra Leone 1. Introduction Urban and peri-urban agriculture is a common practice benefiting millions of people residing within the cities of Sierra Leone before and after independence. Intensification of urban agricultural activities emerged during the massive rural-urban migration as a result of the civil strife from 1991-2002 (Kanu et al., 2009). At the end of ten-year civil war, a significant proportion of the population who had sought refuge in urban communities decided to remain in those areas in search of jobs with the hope of improving their living conditions. This resulted in an unprecedented increase in urban populations creating high pressures on food supplies, urban facilities and services. The bulk of these refugees were rural migrants with a strong agricultural background. In the absence of regular employment, many of these migrants entered into urban and peri-urban agriculture, cultivating leafy vegetables and marketing fruits and vegetables within and near the urban centers, especially Freetown, the capital city. Young displaced people especially women, were engaged in the production and marketing of agricultural products as their major source of livelihood. These factors contributed to a significant expansion of urban and peri-urban agriculture as an essential coping strategy for providing the vital augmentation of food stocks (Kanu et al., 2009). Since 2005, in order to mitigate the impending food crisis, the Ministry of Agriculture in Sierra Leone has been