Attachments
Overview
WFP is supporting the Government of Liberia through the Country Strategic Plan (CSP 2019-2023) to address challenges that continue to disrupt the full realisation of the Government agenda to ensure food security for its citizens. The CSP seeks to support the Government in ending hunger in Liberia (SDG 2) and to achieve all the Sustainable Development Goals through global partnership (Goal 17). The CSP’s main activities include the School Meals Programme with a focus on increasing local production, Smallholder Agriculture Market Support, linked to Outcome One, Crisis Response to provide emergency assistance to the vulnerable population during and in the aftermath of emergencies, linked to Outcome Two, Country Capacity Strengthening initiatives to ensure Government ownership and sustainability of the CSP interventions, linked to Outcome Three and delivering common services to Government and humanitarian actors in the country, linked to Outcome Four. WFP continues to provide these interventions to support national efforts to address the food security crisis in Liberia.
WFP’s school feeding programme targeting 90,000 primary school children remains the flagship programme of the CSP. The intervention promotes access to basic education and longer-term human capital development. In 2022, WFP collaborated with the Government through the Ministry of Education to implement the programme in two counties (Nimba and Maryland), assisting nearly 65,500 beneficiaries. Funding challenges prevented WFP and the Government from reaching the planned 90,000 beneficiaries targeted in the two counties. Funding constraints also prevented the full implementation of the monthly Take-Home Ration component. Instead of a monthly Take-Home Ration distribution, WFP provided one-off cash assistance to 14,944 households of students in WFP-assisted schools.
To promote an increase in food production in the country, WFP and its partners supported smallholder farmers to strengthen their capacity to increase production and productivity through food for asset initiatives. WFP and partners also offered training and agricultural equipment to targeted smallholders and farmers’ groups. WFP assistance aimed at addressing the high level of food insecurity in the country but also to increase local food production to meet the requirement of the home-grown school feeding programme and support the Government in developing Liberia’s food systems.
Additionally, in 2022, WFP undertook a value chain assessment of two crops (rice and cowpeas) in four counties (Montserrado, Bong, Nimba and Lofa. WFP also support the Government in conducting a post-harvest loss analysis covering the same four counties. To inform the design of interventions targeting the strengthening of the capacity of smallholder farmers, WFP initiated the development of a smallholder Agriculture Market Support strategy. To provide more robust evidence-based programming in Liberia, the Government, WFP, the Food and Agricultural Organization, and other partners jointly carried out the Liberia food security, livelihoods, nutrition, and market assessment. Like the 2021 assessment, the 2022 assessment showed a severe deterioration of the food security situation, representing approximately 2.2 million people.
WFP continued to provide common services, including commodity handling, storage, and transportation services, particularly to the Government of Liberia, for delivering essential drugs and medical supplies across the country. WFP is partnering with the Ministry of Health through a Global Fund contribution to deliver the health supply chain intervention. These services allow for the timely delivery and prepositioning of items in hard-to-reach locations. In 2022, 525 MT or 1912 cubic meters of medical supplies were distributed to 15 health facilities in 13 county depots, 39 hospitals, and 106 clinics nationwide.
WFP continued to foster and strengthen partnerships with national counterparts, development partners, regional and subregional institutions, United Nations agencies and other stakeholders to ensure the success of WFP’s work in Liberia. The Government’s Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD), the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), and the strategies and plans of various development partners guided WFP operations in 2022.
Throughout 2022, WFP ensured that gender, protection, and accountability to affected populations were mainstreamed across all activities. WFP also collaborated with other partners, including the Government, to promote gender equality and contribute to women’s empowerment through joint projects, events, and activities.