Ibrahim Marrah, our Sierra Leone Country Representative, reflects on DelAgua’s first year operating the Livɛ Fyn (Live Well) project in Sierra Leone.
On February 22nd 2023, DelAgua commenced its pilot distributions in Bo and Bonthe districts where 2,000 high quality improved cookstoves were distributed and subsequently household visits conducted.
This followed the MoU signing in 2022 between DelAgua and the Government of Sierra Leone, through the Ministry of Energy, to provide an improved cookstove, and deliver integrated education and support, free of charge to over 850,000 rural households in Sierra Leone. This was the first of its kind; an entirely carbon financed clean cooking comprehensive programme in the country.
Tremendous progress has been made in the first year. 26,750 stoves have been distributed so far across 7 districts; Kono, Kambia, Bonthe, Tonkolili, Bo, Falaba and Kenema, reaching 200,625 people.
The majority of the Sierra Leone population live in rural areas and are dependent on subsistence agriculture to survive. According to the Ministry of Energy, over 95% of that rural population still cook on wood fuelled traditional 3 stone fires, often indoors.
The impact of intensive wood fuel harvesting has devastating long-term effects on our natural resources like mangrove swamps, forest covers and savannah woodlands.
By providing a high quality, energy efficient stove that reduces firewood use by 71% along with in home training on how to use the stoves, households and communities are getting access to affordable and modern cooking technology combined with the education that achieves behaviour change.
The launch of this programme also created opportunities for the youth through employment. This is enabling economic growth through productive employment in rural areas where unemployment is major challenge. Furthermore, these are long term jobs that continue throughout the 10-year life of the stove. Our team is comprised of 125 Youth Volunteers and 18 permanent employees; this number will increase as we scale operations across the whole country. All teams are trained on smartphone use, project management & workplace soft skills, all vital skills for the future in twentyfirst century Sierra Leone.
One of our Youth Volunteers in Yele town, Christiana Kargbo, says before joining DelAgua, she had little knowledge of smartphones, but she now feels comfortable using it to collect and upload information. Christiana also appreciates the boost in her income & she has used her stipend from DelAgua to pay school fees for her children and invest in her hairdressing business.
The Livɛ Fyn programme benefits are evident in the communities where stoves have been distributed. Beneficiaries like Ya Marie Kamara, a resident of Tonkolili district admit that since receiving the DelAgua stove her expenditure has reduced significantly. She now spends 10 Leones ($0.00051) on wood per week, instead of daily. Her family now saves 240 Leones ($0.12) per month and the money saved per month is used to buy more food for her family.
The success of our programme implementation would not be possible without the support of our Government partners in the Ministry of Energy, our main partner, and the Ministries of Finance, Youth and Environment. Additionally, District leaders and Paramount Chiefs have welcomed the programme, and their support has been fundamental in driving community acceptance of the stoves.
For DelAgua Sierra Leone, this is only the beginning of a fruitful partnership that will see over 6 million people benefit from access to clean cooking in rural areas.
