29 Hunger is a major and rising concern in Sierra Leone. The 2022 Global Food Crisis Report found that almost a quarter of its 8.4 million people were in food crisis, 14 90,000 needed emergency attention, and a further 35 per cent of the population, almost three million people, were‘stressed’(FSIN and Global Network Against Food Crises 2022). Sierra Leone is highly dependent on imports, and therefore also highly vulnerable to volatile global food and energy prices(IMF 2022). Food consumed half of the expenditure for a majority of the population in 2022(see(Government of Sierra Leone 2022) and Figure 12). Figure 10 Share of food in household expenditure in Sierra Leone 60 45 30 15 0 2019 2020 <50% share on food(acceptable) 65-75% share on food(poor) 2021 2022 50-65% share on food(borderline) > 75% share on food(very poor) Source: 3 Data from Government of Sierra Leone/ WFP Food Security Monitoring System Report; pp. 13-14 Higher prices of food are leading to people cutting back on already meagre meals and other adverse forms of coping. As a second woman protestor told Al Jazeera cameras: ‘The profit we ’ re supposed to have is just not there anymore. Our husbands are not working, we are the ones paying the rent and taking care of home. We have three to four children to feed, and even that is something we cannot afford. 36 cents used to be enough to buy lunch for our children, even if we have double that now, it is no longer enough. That ’ s exactly why we are asking government to reduce the prices on all commodities. Because the high cost of living here is making us suffer too much’(Al Jazeera English 2022a, sec. 1:39). Figure 11 shows the steep rise in the price of basic foods in Freetown in the months before the protests occurred. 14 Defined as either having food consumption gaps that are reflected by high or above-usual acute malnutrition; or being marginally able to meet minimum food needs but only by depleting essential livelihood assets or through crisis-coping strategies, either of which imply:‘URGENT ACTION required to protect livelihoods and reduce food consumption gaps (FSIN and Global Network Against Food Crises 2022).