United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Representative in Liberia Madam, Mariaton Njie, says food security and nutrition are recognized as important for the overall development of any nation and have been highlighted among the long-term fundamental issues in national Economic Development.
Speaking through a proxy Mr. Jesse Yuan, a staff of the Program support unit of the FAO, said that, food security and nutrition are for the pro-poor Development agenda as one means of poverty reduction.
She made the statement Tuesday at program marking the 2018 Comprehensive Food Security and Nutrition Survey (CFSNS) Validation and Response Option workshop held at a local Hotel In Monrovia.
According to her, fighting hunger in a changing world demands that they stay vigilant in their efforts to collect, analyze and disseminate information that is so very critical for designing and implementing hunger solutions which can save lives in emergencies, as well as putting the hungry poor on the path to food security.
The World Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Representative in Liberia lamented that understanding food security and vulnerability has always been challenging.
She noted that yet, the emergence of relatively new phenomena such as the high food and fuel prices ,terrorism , the global financial crisis, and climate change, all highlight the need to better understand the lives and livelihood of vulnerable populations so effective policies and actions can be implemented to save lives and address the root causes of hunger.
Madam Njie pointed out that, to tackle hunger, they first need to understand three key factors; how food is made available to people; how they economically and physically access food and how they utilize the food.
She noted that understanding the constraints underlying each of these factors is a necessary condition for the designing and implementing appropriate and effecting hunger reduction strategies.
Madam Njie, however, told the gathering that the Comprehensive Food Security and Nutrition Survey Validation and Response Option are a unique tool designed to understand these factors.
She added that it describes the profile of the food –insecure and vulnerable households, identify the root causes of hunger, and analyses risks and emerging vulnerabilities among populations.
The FAO Boss also said that it provides crucial information on the type of interventions that would be the most effective in reducing hunger, targeting the neediest, informing preparedness and developing contingencies.
She also said that despite their efforts, poverty in Liberia remains pervasive, especially within a significant portion of the population whose economic activities remove around agriculture, fishing, and natural resources.
She stressed that the potentials of the agriculture sector remain largely untapped with less than half of the arable land under cultivation.
