July 2022

Gompa, Nimba County Liberia: – According to World Health Organization (WHO) on Liberia Ministry of Agriculture National Food Security and Nutritional Strategy (FSNS) published 2008 stressed that the key objectives of the FSNS are to make certain that all Liberians have reliable access to the food they need and are able to utilize that food to live active and healthy lives. As such, ensuring food security and good nutrition is not a policy choice of government that it can decide to accept or reject, but a right of the citizens of Liberia which the government is obligated to respect, promote, and protect. Although the strategy encompasses the food security and nutritional needs of all Liberians, it prioritizes the needs of food insecure and nutritionally vulnerable groups in society, including the elderly who have little support, female-headed households, orphans, and HIV-affected households. In addressing the needs of nutritionally vulnerable households and in working to safeguard the food security and good nutritional status of others, two demographic groups are targeted – infants and children under 5 years of age and pregnant and lactating women. The period from conception through the first two years of life is crucial in terms of food security and nutrition, as growth failure in a child during this period cannot be fully corrected later in life. Consequently, the central outcome measures of whether this strategy can be judged successful are those that establish whether the food and nutritional needs of young children in Liberia are being met. If these needs are satisfied, prospects are good that all Liberians will be properly nourished and food secure.