ZOZOR, Lofa County – The joint UN initiative is a multi-sectoral effort that is presently being implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nation Development Program (UNDP) and the World Food Programme (WFP) in close collaboration with their implementing partners including the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Education, the Cooperative Development Agency, the Liberia Telecommunications Incorporated, Orange Liberia, Lonestar MTN, International Telecommunication Union, the Liberia Labour Congress, the Liberia Chamber of Commerce and civil society organizations working on bottom-up and livelihood support and development. The Private Sector will provide support under a public-private partnership model and as part of their corporate social responsibility. FAO, as the lead Agency, will ensure coordination, coherence and complementarity in providing robust technical support and expertise for the successful implementation of the project. Under this project, WFP whose role is to address livelihood issues in the North-Central region is empowering local farmers to boost production with meager resources available to grow varieties of food including, cow pea, cassava, cucumber, pepper, maize (corn), watermelon and rice (lowland). In Bong, Lofa and Nimba, the sources of human insecurity are multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, deep-rooted, and complex. Despite its huge natural wealth, socio-economic security remains a major concern within the region. Food and social insecurity affect human security – that of women and children – and is tied to land conflict, lack of economic opportunities, weak social cohesion, and other socio-economic problems such as lack of road accessibility and low income which persist throughout the region. The project name “Building Resilience of Youth, Women, and Vulnerable Groups through Social Protection Floor in Liberia using ICT,” is addressing the complex multi-sectorial and interconnected challenges of human insecurities principally food, social, and economic issues for the most vulnerable and neglected populations of the North-Central region of Liberia at the community level. The World Food Programme as part of its livelihood activities during the week distributed local farming tools to farmers in two communities in Lofa, particularly Zorzor and Yeala towns. Some of the tools presented to farming groups include shovels, wheelbarrows, hand gloves, Cutlasses, hoes, rain boots, watering cans, axe, pin axe, head pan amongst others. According to the UN-World Food Programme, Monitoring Assistant assigned in the Saclepea field office Mr. Alieu Sackor, the aim of the joint intervention of the UNTFHS project is to help lift vulnerable population in Bong, Lofa and Nimba to a living standard to place them on par with others that have improved their livelihoods thus reducing the impact of food insecurity on their households. “These tools that are given to you today are not meant to be sold on the market or for distribution, they were made available by WFP as part of our role being play on this project, those of you who attended the training sometimes back in Nimba with ILO for empowerment , that was ILO role they play, you see the giant size warehouse here that was built by FAO for storage this is FAO contribution and responsibility to help you accelerate from where you are to a more improved living standard” said Alieu. He cautioned beneficiaries to put the tools that they had received to effective use to show results in order to motivate donors who risked their money into the project to support local empowerment. “You have to do your best to ensure that others who are not benefiting today will see you as an example to follow. It is also an opportunity to let you know that WFP is running the school feeding program in the three counties. In Nimba and Bong WFP is buying the locally produce food from farmers, so if you are serious, WFP can buy from you to support the school feeding program. Donors are in the field to see what you are doing with the tools you have been given, the other day they were in Bong County, they will come here too to access what you are doing so you have to try your best to show result that’s the only way they will be encouraged to put their money into the project to improve what you are doing” Sackor asserted. Zorzor District commissioner Paul R. Kalama lauded the World Food Programme (WFP) and her associates for their support towards the actualization of the “ARREST” agenda, with a strong warning to beneficiaries to refrain from selling the farming tools given them to produce what they can eat to mitigate food insecurity in the country. Paul threatened to work with the office of the Mayor of Zorzor to pursue and punish would-be sellers of the materials given them by WFP. Also speaking on behalf of beneficiaries in Zorzor, Madam Krubo Harris a cassava, maize and fish farmer lauded WFP, ILO and other implementing partners for their timely intervention towards the current food insecurity situation in the North-central region. She said, the possibility of Lofa County regaining the “bread basket of Liberia” title is highly in sight as she sees lots of potential opportunities and support towards farming now. Krubo admonished her colleagues to embrace the present opportunity WFP has brought at their doorstep in order to appreciate donors’ support towards the alleviation of poverty through Agriculture in Liberia. Yeala town Chief Rufus Sumo assured WFP of a high security of the tools and vowed to punish through the office of the City Mayor would be misusers of the farming kits. Speaking on behalf of one of the groups in Yeala was Krubo Kowovo the chairlady of the Young boys and young girl’s social group who described WFP’s donation as a “heavenly gift” that will be used to enlarge and compliment their struggling efforts to fight food insecurity. According to Krubo, they organized themselves as a group in 2023 with a vision to collectively get involved in farming, beginning with cow pea. She said, presently they have cultivated several acres of farm land with cow peas and cassava which will be ready for harvest in July. “we want to make gari with the cassava we have planted, the group don’t have gari machine now but we have one machine here that other people can rent, so when we harvest, we will talk to the owner of the machine to also help us process our gari to be prepared for sale….our plan is to be able to supply the entire Lofa with gari then we will be talking about supplying other countries when we get connection” she said. “But actually, our main challenge was to clean under the cassava every time, but with the kind of cutlasses and hoes WFP has given us, anytime you come to Yeala and visit our farm, you will want to even lay down and sleep under our cassava” Krubo asserted. The empowerment scheme of WFP and its partners 36 months project which started 2022 and will conclude 2025 is helping to raise 60 farmers in Bong, Lofa and Nimba counties from food insecurity and vulnerability to an improved living standard. The 2018 Comprehensive Food Security and Nutrition Survey indicates that on average Liberian households spend 67.5% on food within a context of rising inflation, increasing food prices, and depreciation of the Liberian dollar. This has been eroding the purchasing power of people, hence their food security and nutrition security. Government-led food security vulnerability analyses have confirmed that the brunt of these events is borne by the youth, women, children, and other vulnerable groups. Analysis of different studies spanning the decade between 2007 and 2016, reveals that Bong, Lofa, and Nimba have maintained high absolute poverty in Liberia. Of the three referenced publications, the most recent puts Bong County, at a total of 290,220 people representing 71.3%; Lofa County 232,161 making 68.7%; and Nimba County 386,298 people constituting 68.5% are in absolute poverty. Similarly, 55.9% and 55.9% of the population in Bong and Lofa are facing food poverty, respectively. (2007 Comprehensive Assessment of the Agriculture Sector; 2013 Liberia Demographic and Health Survey; and 2016 Liberia Household Income and Expenditure Survey) Food insecurity in Liberia has posed serious threat to Liberia’s democracy dating as far back as April 14, 1979 when the famous rice riot resulted into a potential conflict that led to the destabilization of the country’s peace. Since then, the inability of Liberians to feed themselves though with the vast fertile soil has played a pivotal role in Liberian politics awarding politicians the privilege to politicize the situation of increment in the price of rice, the country’s staple food.
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