The mapping workshop held at FAO Liberia (c) FAO

Monrovia - Persistent food insecurity in Liberia has been stressing the country's nutrition status, necessitating urgent, effective, and concerted efforts to implement core nutrition actions.

The UN Nutrition, in collaboration with the Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) Secretariat, and the Ministry of Health undertook the Nutrition Stakeholder and Action Mapping to identify nutrition stakeholders’ activities and areas of implementation in the fifteen counties in Liberia. The mapping will inform various multi-sectoral nutrition actors, including line ministries, development partners, civil society, the private sector, and communities in the sectors such as health, food and agriculture, education, social protection for the coordinated implementation of the actions to combat the country’s food insecurity and malnutrition challenges.

From 28 November to 1 December 2023, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), hosting the UN Nutrition Secretariat in Liberia, organized, facilitated and technically supported the process of data collection and the data collection training for the total of 25 central and county nutrition supervisors, county health team data officer and nutrition technical advisors. The data collection used the web-based Scaling-Up Nutrition Planning and Monitoring Tool (SUN PMT) to calculate the geographic and population coverage of nutrition actions.

Nutrition status in Liberia under stress

According to the most recent report, 'State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI),' released in July 2023, the prevalence of undernourishment among Liberia's population remains alarmingly high at 38.4% (2020-2022). This figure signifies that approximately two million individuals in the country suffer from undernourishment, illustrating a considerable gap in achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2, which aims to eradicate hunger by 2030.

The recent Rapid Food Security Livelihoods Nutrition and Market Assessment (RFSLNMA, 2022) analysis report also shows that nutrition status in Liberia is at the “Alert/Stress” level, making the country vulnerable to further shocks.

Liberia has made significant strides in alleviating childhood malnutrition, placing a paramount focus on reducing stunting rates in Liberia to 22 percent, a goal underscored in the Liberia’s Agenda for Transformation (2012-2017) and the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD) (2018-2023). Presently, the incidence of stunting among children under five stands at 26.6 percent, marking a substantial improvement from the 45 percent reported in 2000 and the 42 percent in 2010, as per UNICEF statistics.

Concerted efforts to implement nutrition actions in Liberia

The UN Nutrition – a partnership among FAO, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – is devoted to improving multi-sectoral nutrition governance, aiming to overcome fragmentation, increase harmonization on nutrition and provide coordinated and aligned support to governments for greater impact for the improvement of nutrition. At the country level in Liberia, UN Nutrition, financially supported by Irish Aid, acts as the UN Network for the Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) movement Liberia SUN, actively supporting the SUN processes.

In November 2022, in collaboration with the government, UN Nutrition concluded a nationwide Nutrition Stakeholders Mapping to identify nutrition actions and stakeholders involved in funding and the implementation of nutrition actions. Through the process, the government validated the result of the mapping exercise. Among the recommendations made included the implementation of a second round of a mapping exercise to further inform the nutrition strategic plan. 

The second mapping exercise and training built the capacity of the sector staff in the country to collect analyze and interpret relevant nutrition data, while it also identified key nutrition stakeholders across the country. Furthermore, the participants validated the Nutrition Stakeholders Action Mapping data generated through the exercise, which will be the basis for the implementation of the nutrition strategic plan.

The launch of the costed strategic plan for nutrition

UN Nutrition has also supported the development, validation and launch of the Liberia Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Costed Strategic Plan (LMNCSP 2023). The LMNCSP 2023, launched on 7 of December 2023, acknowledges the central role of the food systems “to provide nutritious, safe, affordable and sustainable diets for children, adolescents and women, while ensuring adequate nutrition services and positive nutrition practices across the life cycle.”

The virtual launch brought together 48 high-level delegates from organizations and institutions and among them included the Vice President of the Republic of Liberia/ Nutrition convener, United Nations Resident Coordinator,  SUN Globa Movement, representative of the Anglophone Africa, Scaling Up Nutrition Movement, Regional Resident Representative of the ECOWAS Commission in Liberia, West African Health Organization (WAHO), European Union,  World Bank and other line ministries, development partners, civil society, and the private sector. The launch of the LMNCSP 2023 was also an opportunity to mobilize financial and technical support from both domestic and external sources to ensure the effective and efficient execution of the plan.

FAO persists in close collaboration with the government, development partners and stakeholders to defeat hunger and achieve global food and nutrition security while preserving the natural resources and reducing the environmental impact. FAO in Liberia continues to provide technical support to the government through UN Nutrition partnerships and other projects and programmes for the development of sustainable agrifood systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.

Links
FAO Nutrition: website

FAO Publication:
State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI)

Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition - Statistics and Trends 2023