lFishermen in Sierra Leone need large amounts of ice to store their catch on multiday journeys. Like many commodities, it has become pricey.
l
His red soccer jersey and shorts soaked in salty water, Edison Fofana loaded his boat on a recent morning with gallons of fuel, a box of rice and bottles of soda needed for his four-day fishing journey.
Walking back and forth between the beach buzzing with dozens of other fishermen and his wooden vessel docked nearby, he also carried on his head bags of ice — an increasingly expensive commodity, but necessary to keep his catch fresh on the trip.
“Within a week time, ice prices shoot up,” said Mr. Fofana, 33, as he jumped into the ice storage bin on his boat and sprinkled salt on the ice he had just stacked to prevent it from melting. “Nets, rice, fuel, ice, everything.”
Skyrocketing fuel prices caused in part by the war in Ukraine have driven up the cost of living in African countries like Sierra Leone this year, hitting fishermen and working-class communities hard and leaving millions hungry. Their governments, highly dependent on imports of basic commodities like rice and wheat, have seen meager financial reserves dwindle.