Rural livelihoods and food security: long-term insights from Sierra Leone’ s Eastern Province Tony Binns* and Jerram Bateman Department of Geography, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand *Corresponding author. Email: jab@geography.otago.ac.nz Received 3 February 2016 • Revised 12 June 2016 • Accepted 7 July 2016 Abstract Sierra Leone is one of the world’s poorest countries, which in the last two decades has suffered from a devastating civil war and, more recently, an epidemic of the deadly Ebola disease. Both economy and livelihoods have suffered considerably, and the government and local communities are now working hard to re-build these. Food insecurity has been a longstanding issue among Sierra Leone’s rural house- holds. This article considers some of the main parameters in the food security debate and then examines food security in the context of the country’s rural development policies. Using data collected from field-based research undertaken in two Eastern Province communities in the 1970s, and more recently in 2014, a valuable long- term perspective is provided in relation to seasonal and intra-household food insecu- rity and the impact of certain shocks in exacerbating the situation. The article con- cludes that further rural extension support, increasing cash crop production, and community education programmes could help to raise awareness of food insecurity issues and possibly lead to an improvement in nutritional levels in communities and within individual households. Keywords food security; Sierra Leone; rural livelihoods; farming; households Introduction The issue of food security has been debated exten- sively since the 1970s, with many different perspectives presented. A recent contribution to the debate came from the United Nations in September 2015, with the announcement of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Building on the earlier Millennium Development Goals, the SDGs, with 17 goals and 169 targets, and scheduled for implementation from January 2016, give high priority in goal 2 to ending hunger and achieving food security. The stated objective by 2030 is to ‘end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulner- able situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food all year round’ (UN, 2015). This article considers some of the broader per- spectives on food security, before focusing on food security in Sierra Leone, a country with the dubious distinction of being among the lowest ranked countries in the United Nations Develop- ment Programme’s Human Development Index. Attention is then directed to food security issues in two communities in the country’s Eastern Province where data on rural livelihoods collected in the 1970s are compared with findings from field-based research undertaken in 2014. Research has revealed that many households face regular seasonal food shortages while, within households, there are serious inequalities in distribution and ac- cess to nutritious food among some of the most vulnerable individuals. Understanding food security Concerns about ensuring adequate food supplies for growing populations have been expressed by many different individuals and organisations, most famously in 1798 by Thomas Malthus, who Geographical Research • 2016 doi:10.1111/1745-5871.12204 1