President George Manneh Weah has issued Executive Order #110 to extend expired Executive Order #101 on the repositioning of the National Food Assistance Agency of Liberia (NFAA).
Executive Order #110 was issued on May 16, 2022, and is aimed to reposition and strengthen the NFAA to make it far more effective, responsive, and cut-crossing in keeping with its authority, scope, functions, and operations.
The Executive Order empowers the NFAA to ensure the sustainability of school feeding programs across the country and to address improved nutrition for Liberian schoolchildren in order to increase their access, participation, and achievement in learning outcomes such as enrolment, attendance, and retention.
“This strategy will make use of both locally produced and donated food commodities. According to the Executive Order, “the method will boost agricultural output and income of smallholder farmers, hence increasing resilience to shocks among food insecure groups by promoting farmers’ access to production and market possibilities.”
According to the Executive Order, NFAA is to purchase extra products from farmers to be processed and stored for distribution to schools and other institutions in the event of a need or disaster.
“NFAA is expected to establish food stamps and free meals for physically challenged individuals, single and vulnerable parents, including young children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding moms,” according to the Executive Order. Others include youngsters, elderly, sick, or malnourished, as well as Girl-Childs who lack parental guidance and assistance. And to establish storage and processing facilities for local crops (cassava, plantain, eddoes, and rice) for distribution. This will augment food relief donation to Liberia,” the Executive Order said.
According to the Executive Mansion, “it is also to enable NFAA to provide a sustainable and reliable food security and nutrition systems through the establishment of regional food hubs, ensure compliance with established standards for food quality, monitor and distribute food commodities to vulnerable, underprivileged individuals and disadvantaged institutions, store and facilitate market linkages for local farmers for surplus commodities, and store and facilitate market linkages for local farmers for surplus commodities.”
The National Legislature will establish a reasonable extra budget to supplement and/or equalize employees’ base salaries, allowing NFAA to meet both administrative and operational issues.
It has been tasked with conducting a survey and compiling a comprehensive database of both local and international food-related NGOs in Liberia, as well as ensuring proper monitoring mechanisms of food donations from outside sources and their ultimate distribution and supply to Liberian beneficiaries and institutions.
It ensures the continued existence of regional food banks across the country for timely interventions in food assistance during natural disasters such as floods, quakes, and droughts.
According to President Weah, the Executive Order affirms that food insecurity is a significant issue for the country’s flagship development plan, the Pro-Poor Agenda for Development and Prosperity (PAPD), as well as global efforts to end hunger and poverty by 2030.
According to the President, the decision recognizes that Liberia’s food-producing resources have been underutilized for more than a decade and that the government intends to encourage investment in this sector to ensure long-term development and food security, in line with goal one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which corresponds to pillar one of the PAPD.
The Agency will be led by a Director-General, who will be supported by additional directors, and a nine-member Board of Directors, which will be chaired by Liberia’s Ministry of Agriculture.
