ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
WFP Liberia Country Office funded the
Food Security and Nutrition Survey conducted between January and February
2005 in Lofa County. WFP wishes to acknowledge the assistance provided
by the Government counterparts, NGOs and UN sister agencies. In particular,
WFP is grateful to ICRC in providing for basic statistics and population
figures, which were crucial for the development of the sampling frame and
cluster identification. UNICEF's support in the supervision of the whole
exercise is also appreciated. The participation and supervisory assistance
provided by the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs (MPEA) and Ministry
of Health and Social Welfare (MOH & SW) is highly appreciated.
The contribution from the IMC and ACF for seconding their staff to assist the data collection, and supervision was extremely helpful. The Humanitarian Information Centre (HIC) provided the much needed basic statistics on population data and maps. The role of Peace Winds (Japan and IRC) in providing the much needed background information is also acknowledged. Various organizations including UNHCR, FAO, SC-UK and others participated in the planning process and provided useful comments that was valuable in carrying out the exercise. WFP is grateful for the members of households, key informants and head of community groups who render their time and provided the crucial information on livelihoods in Lofa County.
Finally, WFP is grateful to all who contributed in various forms for the success of this survey including leadership of Lofa County, county health team and various departmental structures.
Executive Summary
WFP in collaboration with MOH & SW, UNICEF, IMC and ACF conducted a food security and nutrition survey in Lofa County from January 22 to February 3, 2005. The survey provides baseline information on the key food security and nutrition indicators and possible causes of vulnerability in the County. The results will facilitate the review of the already existing programmes and guide the planning and appropriate targeting of future food assistance in Lofa and in Liberia in general.
The survey utilized both quantitative and qualitative information collected at both household and community level. A two-stage cluster sampling methodology was used in which 30 communities were randomly selected. In each community, at least 25 households were assessed.
The assessment indicates uncertain food security situation in Lofa County.. Based on food diversity, accessibility and expenditure patterns, the survey reveals that only less than 20% of the population have adequate food consumption levels. Majority (>70%) of the surveyed households have unsatisfactory consumption pattern characterized by less food diversity, high (over 60%) expenditures on food items at the expense of other basic needs, low frequency of daily food intake, low household asset holdings (mainly limited to utensils and other relatively less valued household goods), less reliable income sources etc. There is high dependency on food purchases and other relief sources with limited own production reported by the communities.
Although the communities are resettling in their villages, seeds and farming tools are not readily available neither do they have the capacity to purchase the required farm tools. They will still heavily rely on external support to undertake farming activities.
Generally, the communities have limited capacity to respond to problems afflicting them. For example, their capacity to construct schools, health facilities, and even be involved in constructive farming endeavours is constrained by poverty levels. This makes them extremely vulnerable to negative affects of shocks. Results indicate that while 60% of the households had experienced some shock ((in food or income access) over the previous 12 months, a significant proportion (40-50%) did not have enough mechanisms to absorb the negative impacts.
For the nutrition component, 950 children were surveyed from 648 households. The results indicate a global acute malnutrition of 2.6% and severe acute malnutrition was 0.4%. Compared to national averages, stunting levels is not extremely high at about 24% while underweight is 11%. Crude Mortality Rate (CMR) is 1.35 deaths per 10,000 per day while Under-Five Mortality Rate (U5MR) is 2.41deaths per 10,000 per day. Both CMR and U5MR is slightly elevated and requires caution. Main causes of deaths among under-five year old children are malaria, diarrhoeal diseases and acute respiratory infections. Inadequate provision of health care services, unsafe water and poor child feeding practices remain major issues of concern. A significant 30% of the children were introduced to foods other than breast milk before the recommended time of 4-6 months while less than one-fifth of the children continued to breastfeed beyond one year of their life. Assessment of HIV/AIDS awareness reveals appalling statistics characterized by high levels of ignorance about the pandemic, stigmatization, and discrimination. Less than 10% of the assessed household have appropriate knowledge on the spread, prevention and care for the pandemic.
The survey also confirms massive destruction of the basic social services such as education facilities, health institutions, shelters, and farms. Thus the uptake of education is still relatively low, there is acute shortage of shelter while health service provision is grossly inadequate. The communities heavily rely on sourcing basic food items from far markets in the neighbouring countries.
The report recommend the following actions as a priority in the county: Support in the provision of shelter to encourage resettlement process especially targeting the poor households;; rehabilitation of basic infrastructures such as schools and skills training facilities; health service provision especially urgent in Salayea District where no health facility currently exists; improvement in water and sanitation situation through construction of latrines, water pumps etc. Other recommendations include initiation of income generating activities especially those involving women and the youth; provision of agricultural tools and equipment; intensification of health and nutrition education mainly focusing on primary health care and child feeding practices and concerted HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns in the county
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