Strengthening Peace Through Entrepreneurship and Community Empowerment in Kambia District

Strengthened Peace Infrastructure and Accountability through Community-led Peace-building and Empowerment of Women and Youth as Leaders in Sierra Leone (P2P)

Entrepreneurship Training Empowers Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities

ABC-Development, with support from USAID through the Strengthening Peace Infrastructure and Accountability (P2P) Project, conducted a two-day entrepreneurship training in Magbema and Bramaia Chiefdoms, Kambia District.

The training brought together 80 participants, comprising 48 women and 32 men, including youth and persons with disabilities. The activity was designed to strengthen participants’ business knowledge, financial literacy, and leadership skills while promoting economic empowerment as a pathway toward peaceful, resilient communities.

Facilitated by the P2P team and Program Officer Lansana Jefferson Sheriff, the training introduced participants to practical business and entrepreneurship concepts, including:

• Business fundamentals and financial literacy

• Generating and mapping business ideas

• Characteristics of successful entrepreneurs

• Legal business formalization and local licensing requirements

• Responsibilities of business organizations toward employees

• Local council business registration processes

• Savings, loans, and cooperative models

The sessions encouraged participants to connect entrepreneurship with the everyday challenges faced by households and communities. Discussions explored how sustainable businesses and income-generating activities can contribute to improved access to education, health, agriculture, and other essential needs.

The training also emphasized the relationship between economic empowerment and peacebuilding. By expanding opportunities for sustainable livelihoods, particularly among vulnerable groups and young people, communities can reduce some of the economic vulnerabilities that may contribute to political manipulation and violence.

A major strength of the training was the active participation of women, youth, and persons with disabilities.

Participants were encouraged to share their experiences, discuss challenges, generate business ideas, and identify opportunities within their communities. The inclusive training environment helped strengthen participants’ confidence and encouraged a greater sense of ownership over their economic futures.

The activity was implemented during a challenging period, as many community members were engaged in farming activities and some schedules coincided with Luma market days. Despite these competing demands, participants remained actively engaged throughout the training.

ABC-Development’s strong relationships with community stakeholders also played an important role in ensuring that the targeted groups were reached and able to participate.

At the conclusion of the training, participants demonstrated increased awareness and knowledge in several key areas.

They gained:

• A stronger understanding of financial literacy and business development

• Practical knowledge for starting and managing micro-businesses

• Greater awareness of business formalization and local registration requirements

• Knowledge of savings, loans, and cooperative opportunities

• Renewed confidence in pursuing entrepreneurship and income-generating activities

Although formal individual action plans were not developed during the training, participants expressed optimism that the knowledge and skills acquired would support them in developing sustainable livelihood activities.

The training also provided valuable lessons for future community-based programming.

Budget constraints: Limited resources affected the scope of some planned activities.

Farming season: The timing of the training coincided with a busy period for agricultural activities, creating competing demands for some participants.

Luma market days: Market schedules occasionally conflicted with training activities and required participants to balance their economic responsibilities with participation in the programme.

Despite these challenges, effective community engagement and ABC-Development’s relationships with local stakeholders contributed significantly to the successful implementation of the activity.

The entrepreneurship training forms part of a broader 36-month P2P project targeting women, youth, Okada riders, and persons with disabilities across five districts in Sierra Leone.

The initiative recognizes that peacebuilding extends beyond dialogue and conflict prevention. Communities also need access to opportunities that enable people to build secure and sustainable livelihoods.

By strengthening business knowledge, improving financial literacy, and increasing awareness of pathways to capital and enterprise development, the project seeks to empower vulnerable groups while strengthening community resilience.

For women and young people in particular, increased economic opportunities can contribute to greater independence, stronger household livelihoods, and increased participation in community development.

Ultimately, the initiative seeks to demonstrate that economic empowerment and peacebuilding can reinforce one another—helping communities address vulnerability, strengthen social cohesion, and build more peaceful and resilient futures.

• Participants taking part in group exercises on business idea generation

• Program Officer facilitating a session on legal business formalization

• Women entrepreneurs discussing challenges and opportunities in starting businesses

• Participants during the closing group photo

ABC-Development remains committed to supporting inclusive, community-led approaches that empower women, youth, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups to become active contributors to peace and sustainable development in Sierra Leone.