Sierra Leone
Overview
WFP undertakes programmes through its offices in Freetown and Sub-offices in Port Loko, Kailahun, Kenema and Magburaka districts. These Sub-offices are strategically located to provide adequate logistical support, for food distribution throughout the country.
Team
There are close to 90 Logistics staff working in Sierra Leone between the head office and four sub offices.
Activities
Port operations
All food commodities enter the country by sea through the Port of Freetown where WFP has priority berthing rights opposite 6,400 MT of dedicated free-of-charge warehouse space, plus an additional warehouse complex of 5,700 MT within the vicinity of the port. The Government of Sierra Leone also provides 8,200 metric tons of storage space at the four Sub-offices free of charge..
Storage
Storage facilities include:
- WFP Port Warehouse, Freetown: the complex is situated in the Sea Port of Sierra Leone called Queen Elizabeth II Quay in Cline T own .
- WFP Kissy Complex, Freetown: The Kissy complex is built by WFP in collaboration with the Government of Sierra Leone. It is situated at Kissy Dockyard which is about 5 kilometers from the Sea Port in the east of Freetown. It is a complex with three warehouses, container storage facilities for non food items, a vehicle repairing workshop with vehicle spare part store and a large vehicles parking space.
- WFP Port Loko Sub Office: The Port Loko Complex is built by WFP in collaboration with the Government of Sierra Leone. It is the closest provincial warehouse to the capital. It has a workshop for the repairs of WFP vehicles and a fuel depot. It is strategically located to service the north and north western area of the country.
- WFP Magburaka Sub Office: This warehouse complex is built by WFP in collaboration with the Government of Sierra Leone. It services WFP operations in parts of the north and north eastern areas of the country. The complex also has a vehicle repair workshop and a fuel depot.
- WFP Kenema Sub Office:This complex is built by WFP in collaboration with the Government of Sierra Leone. It is located in the eastern province of the country and services the part of the eastern and southern provinces. It is equipped with a vehicle repairs workshop and a fuel depot. There is still more space for warehouse expansion.
- WFP Kailahun Sub Office: These are Wiikhalls built by WFP and the Government of Sierra Leone providing the land. The complex is equipped with a vehicle repairs workshop and a fuel depot. It situated in the far eastern province of the country. Warehouse facilities in this locality are scarce and capacities small.
Surface transport
Primary transport between WFP warehouses in Freetown and the four Sub offices is carried out through commercial transporters. Secondary transport between WFP Sub offices and final distribution points (FDPs) is done by WFP's fleet of 32 trucks (with total capacity 271.5 metric tons) due to the lack of adequate transport capacity and poor road conditions.
Rail
There are no rail services in Sierra Leone.
Aviation
WFP Sierra Leone operates a regional air operation project with an annual average of 650 passengers and 5 metric tons of cargo moved between Freetown (Liberia), Conakry (Guinea), Monrovia (Liberia) and Abidjan (Cote D'Ivoire).
Other Logistics services
The Country Office runs a central maintenance workshop at Freetown with satellite workshops at the four Sub-offices for the repair and maintenance of vehicles, trucks, generators and monocycles. The service is currently extended to UNICEF with a third party agreement and discussions on extending the service to all UN agencies is underway. Food commodity tracking is carried out using a centralized commodity tracking system (COMPAS) with one site at the Country Office and data entry performed via a network system of four client machines.
