WFP (World Food Program)

As the food aid arm of the UN, WFP uses its food to meet emergency needs and support economic and social development. The Agency also provides the logistical support necessary to get food aid to those in need in a timely manner. WFP works to put hunger at the center of the international agenda, promoting policies, strategies and operations that directly benefit the poor and hungry.

WFP in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone is a least developed and low-income food deficit country ranked second to last, 176th out of 177 countries in the UNDP Human Development Index for 2005. Seventy percent of the population is classified as living below the national poverty line. The current food security situation is characterized mainly by low availability and a lack of economic access. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), rice production, the major Sierra Leonean staple, in 2003 met only 47 percent of requirements.

The objectives of the current regional operation include the provision of life-saving food to refugees and support to selective feeding programs and other recovery activities including emergency school feeding, food for work and food for training.

In October 2004, the WFP Executive Board approved the first ever Sierra Leone Country Program, covering the three year period from 2005 to 2007. The overall objective of the country program is to enhance the capacity of vulnerable communities and households to meet their food and nutrition needs in a sustainable manner, while addressing gender imbalances and the risk of HIV/AIDS. It especially targets households headed by women, children, the elderly and people affected by HIV/AIDS. The country program focuses on three main outcomes: (1) increased access to basic education and improved attendance and retention rates of children, particularly girls; (2) improved nutrition and health of vulnerable groups, including people living with HIV/AIDS; and (3) enhanced capacity of poor food insecure households and communities to rehabilitate, create and maintain assets.

Humanitarian interventions such as the World Food Program’s food-for-work and food for agriculture programs have helped in the rehabilitation of roads, bridges and other infrastructure vital to enhance food security.

Basic Education also brings important benefits to individuals, their families, and communities. Therefore, school feeding forms a vital part of WFP activities in Sierra Leone, where schoolchildren are served one hot meal daily in school under WFP’s school feeding program.

WFP pursues its goal of feeding the hungry poor in Sierra Leone through: (1) addressing emergency needs and (2) supporting the government’s efforts in reconstruction and rehabilitation.

To learn more,visit www.wfp.org.