CASE STORY OF
Momoh Bawoh
PUBLISHED September 11, 2020
"Changing Lives Through The SBD"
Momoh Bawoh and his wife Fatamata Bawoh are beneficiaries of the LANN+ project residing in Mendekellema, a, a small community in Gaura Chiefdom (Kenema District). The couple struggled with malnutrition and poor hygiene practices that nearly affected their pregnancy. With a new member of the family coming, the family needed to increase their income earning and expand their business activity.
In 2019, the couple became beneficiaries of the LANN+ project in the Kenema District. They participated in a series of training sessions which focused on entrepreneurial training, business skills development and financial management. The Bawoh family like many other participants were equipped with the requisite business and financial literacy skills to efficiently strategize for their business and manage their finances through regularized bookkeeping. Subsequently, the Bawoh family were part of the first group to receive the first Small Business Development (SBD) loan by the LANN+ project. The SBD loan is a loan facility that attracts very minimal interest in its repayment.
During the training phase, the Bawoh family also participated in Agricultural & Nutrition training which enabled them learn about the need to improve their nutrition. The family faced the risk of a possible Caesarean section operation during child-birth due to malnutrition and poor hygiene practices. According to the husband, Momoh Bawoh, the project has been instrumental in controlling hunger and malnutrition in his home through agricultural diversification. The family have been able to invest into snail rearing for consumption and for sale.
Momoh has also been able to invest in new sources of income generation activities such as the sale of solar power, generators, computers, speakers, microphones etc. Momoh Bawoh and Fatamata Bawoh disclosed the significance the project has had on the family as it has given them better choices in life. The family could not hide their joy as they expressed their gratitude to the project donors and partners.
Over the years food security in Sierra Leone has been a major predicament. However, Kenema is one of the districts with highest small growth and wasting in the country with 9.5% of the population suffering from severe malnutrition. The low growth and wasting rates in Kenema are 41.1% and 8.9%, respectively, above the national average. (WFP Report 2015).
The LANN+ project funded by German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through Deutsche Welthungerhilfe (WHH) was implemented to curb malnutrition and provide a sustainable livelihood for the people of Kenema and Pujehun Districts. With support to households like the Bawoh family, SEND Sierra Leone and its partner Welthungerhilfe Sierra Leone will be able to reduce the level of food insecurity in the district and promote financial independence.