By Brima Sannoh
By sunrise in Pujehun’s busy local markets, the tension is already visible. Buyers clutch small amounts of cash, scanning prices that seem to change by the day, while traders brace for complaints they can no longer control.
What used to be routine shopping has become a daily negotiation for survival.
At the entrance of the bustling assorted food market in Sahn Malen, Baindu Musa, a single mother of two junior secondary school girls, stands quietly with a small bundle of notes in her hand, carefully calculating what she can afford. She says that sometimes she comes to the market with a plan but leaves with something completely different because the money is not enough. Baindu now has to balance feeding her children with meeting their school needs, a situation she describes as not easy.
In local markets from Sahn Malen to Bandajuma, the story is the same: the prices of basic commodities—rice, cooking oil, sugar, soap, and transportation—have surged steadily in recent months, tightening pressure on already struggling households.
Hawa Kpaka, a mother of five in Pujehun Town, Kpanga Chiefdom, explains that her family’s situation has changed drastically over time. She says her husband used to buy a bag of rice that would last the family for weeks, but now they can only afford to buy cups every few days, adding that prices change almost every week.
A Daily Struggle for Households
Across rural communities of Sierra Leone, many households depend on subsistence farming and small daily earnings. But even farmers say they are not insulated from the crisis. Abdul Sheriff, a subsistence rice farmer in Bandajuma Sowa, a weekly trade fair community, explains that although they farm, they still rely heavily on the market for essential items such as salt, oil, soap, and transport. He notes that whenever prices increase, life becomes increasingly difficult, especially for rural farmers who depend on both production and local trade to survive.
For non-farming households, the situation is even more severe. Casual laborers and petty traders say their incomes have not increased to match the rising cost of goods.
Fatmata Baby Sheriff, a petty trader in plastic bowls, buckets, and general household utensils in Pujehun Town, says the prices of her goods have increased sharply compared to how she used to buy them. She explains that this rise is largely driven by the fuel crisis linked to the war in the Middle East, which has increased transport costs and disrupted supply chains. She says her profit margins have dropped significantly, forcing her to reduce the quantity of goods she now purchases.
Fatmata adds that “every time I go to restock, I realize my money cannot buy what it used to buy. The transport cost alone is eating into everything.”
She warns that if the situation continues, she fears her capital will be seriously affected, stressing that her business is what she depends on to take care of her children and their education.
Mamie Sheriff, a 55-year-old dried fish seller at the central market in Pujehun Town, also speaks of deepening hardship in her trade. She tells ManoReporters in front of her table along Kaikai Street inside the market that before the rise in fuel and transport costs, she used to travel every week to Tombo, a fishing community in Western Rural District of Sierra Leone, to buy fish. She says she now only travels twice a month due to high transport cost and rising commodity prices.
Mamie adds that fish supply has also become unstable because fishermen themselves are struggling with fuel costs and shortage of essential fishing materials.
She notes: “Even the fish I used to depend on is no longer coming the way it used to. Everything is expensive now, and I am afraid for my capital because this is what I use to take care of my children and their school.”
Transport Costs Deepening the Crisis
Transport operators say the crisis has severely disrupted their daily operations and income. Foday Koroma, a taxi driver who plies the Bo–Pujehun route, explains that before the fuel price hike, he used to make up to three trips per day, but now he can only manage one trip daily.
He tells ManoReporters: “Before, I could do three rounds a day and still meet my target, but now I can only do one trip because fuel is too expensive.”
He adds that the reduced trips have made it difficult to meet the daily payment required by vehicle owners, forcing them at times to extend repayment over several days just to survive.
Hassan Kemokai, another driver operating on the same route, says the situation is becoming increasingly unsustainable. He explains that passenger turnout has also dropped because of increased fares. According to him, the fare from Pujehun to Bo, a 46-mile journey, has increased from seventy Leones to ninety Leones per passenger.
He said that even with the new fare, making a profit is still difficult. “We are now struggling to meet our daily targets,” he says. “Sometimes we have to double the days just to be able to pay the vehicle owners. It is not easy anymore.”
The ripple effect is felt across the entire transport chain—from drivers to passengers, traders, and final consumers—making movement and trade increasingly expensive.
Governance, Markets, and Accountability
Local council officials acknowledge the growing concern but point to broader economic pressures beyond their control. Hindolo Alusine Sillah, Councilor of the Pujehun District Council representing Ward 364, says that while the council continues to monitor market conditions and engage stakeholders, the rising cost of basic commodities is largely driven by national and international economic pressures beyond their control. He notes that stabilizing prices will require stronger policy interventions at higher levels of government, particularly in addressing fuel costs and supply chain disruptions affecting rural markets.
Meanwhile, civil society actors are calling for stronger oversight and targeted support for rural communities.
Abdulai Jalsil Sillah of the Pujehun District Human Rights Committee and Executive Director of Youth in Action for Development (YAD) Sierra Leone says that economic hardship, if left unaddressed, can have deeper social consequences, noting that when people cannot afford basic needs, frustration builds, affecting dignity and stability.
A Transitional Justice Perspective
The current situation echoes concerns raised in the 2004 Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report following Sierra Leone’s eleven-year civil conflict. It identified economic marginalization, inequality, and lack of access to basic services as key underlying causes of the war.
The Commission warned that endemic poverty, corruption, and the denial of basic human needs created the conditions for the conflict and instability, and emphasized that failure to address these structural issues could risk renewed social tension.
More than two decades later, many rural communities like those in Pujehun continue to face similar challenges—limited access to economic opportunities, weak market systems, and vulnerability to external shocks.
Women and Children Bear the Burden
In many households, women and children are carrying the heaviest load.
Women, who are often responsible for feeding their families, say they are forced to make difficult choices such as reducing meal portions, skipping meals, or substituting less nutritious options. Children are also affected, as food insecurity begins to impact their health and education.
Edward Goba, schoolteacher in Sahn Malen says some pupils go to school hungry, which affects their concentration and academic performance.
Searching for Solutions
Experts and community stakeholders suggest several measures to ease the burden, including strengthening rural food production and storage systems, improving road infrastructure, enhancing market regulation, supporting small-scale traders and farmers, and expanding social protection programs. Civil society groups also emphasize the need for government accountability and inclusive economic policies that prioritize rural communities.
A Warning and a Call to Action
For many in Pujehun, the rising cost of basic commodities is more than an economic issue—it is a test of resilience and a signal of deeper structural gaps. As highlighted in the TRC report, ignoring economic hardship and inequality risks undermining peace and stability. The situation in Pujehun serves as a reminder that post-war recovery must go beyond infrastructure to include meaningful improvements in people’s daily lives.
For families like Baindu Musa’s, survival has become a daily calculation—one that continues to grow more uncertain with each passing day.
This report was produced with support from the Africa Transitional Justice Legacy Fund (ATJLF), through the Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG), under the project: ‘Engaging the Media and Communities to Change the Narrative on Transitional Justice Issues in Sierra Leone.
