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A young Sierra Leonean agripreneur, Sherilyn Cowan, has successfully expanded her maize farming enterprise to 150 hectares, creating employment opportunities for more than 200 young people and demonstrating the growing potential of agriculture as a profitable business venture for the country’s youth.
Sherilyn, a Computer Science student with a longstanding passion for agriculture, has spent the past five years engaged in maize production, supplying poultry farmers with a key ingredient used in animal feed.
Her success story has been significantly boosted through support from the Food System Resilience Program (FSRP), which aims to strengthen agricultural productivity and promote youth participation in agribusiness.
In 2024, Sherilyn emerged as one of Sierra Leone’s leading young women agripreneurs. As demand for maize from poultry farmers increased, she identified an opportunity to expand her operations but faced challenges in accessing the resources needed to increase production.
Through FSRP support, Sherilyn received improved maize seeds to cultivate 60 hectares of land. Working alongside members of her women-led group, SLENC, she successfully farmed the land and recorded a substantial increase in output.
Speaking about the impact of the intervention, Sherilyn said the support transformed her farming activities from a small-scale operation into a larger commercial enterprise. She explained that prior to the intervention, she had been cultivating approximately five hectares of maize annually.
Building on that success, FSRP further supported Sherilyn and her team in 2025 through its Matching Grant Scheme. The grant enabled the group to expand its maize production and venture into value addition through the processing of poultry feed.
Today, the group cultivates 150 hectares of maize and plans to process the harvest into chicken feed at the end of the farming season. The enterprise has generated jobs for more than 200 young people, with women accounting for about 70 percent of the workforce.
Beyond employment creation, the initiative is contributing to increased maize production, improved household incomes, enhanced food and nutrition security, and broader economic development within the community.
Sherilyn’s achievements highlight the growing role of youth and women in transforming Sierra Leone’s agricultural sector and underscore the impact of targeted support programmes in unlocking opportunities within agribusiness.
The Food System Resilience Program continues to support young entrepreneurs across the country, promoting agriculture as a viable pathway to economic empowerment while strengthening national food systems and rural livelihoods.
