Maryama and her children are from Sierra Leone - a country in West Africa. Maryama, like lots of people in Sierra Leone, grows her own food and sells some of what she grows so that she has money to buy other things.
Farmers in Sierra Leone like Maryama has been struggling because the effects of climate change means that the weather is more unpredictable and this makes it difficult to grow plants for food.
It’s also hard for women like Maryama to invest in their farms. Farmers need money to buy seeds and tools but they don’t always have the money to pay for those things when they need them.
But there is a solution. Farmers in Sierra Leone can create their own groups called Village Savings and Loan Associations. This helps them to work together to save money and invest in their farms.
The Village Savings and Loan Association that Christian Aid’s partners have helped set up means that Maryama has more control of her future. Together with others in her village she can save, borrow and spend money on farming so that she will have food for her family and crops she can sell.
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