By Politico Staff Writer
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP) and other partners, have commissioned a nationwide survey on food security.
The 2020 Comprehensive Food Security and vulnerability Analysis (CFSVA), which is being led by WFP, was launched in the northern district of Port Loko last week.
Officials said the process is being supported by Statistics Sierra Leone, which will provide technical expertise.
The CFSVA is a data collection process that takes place every five years, with the previous editions having taken place in 2010 and 2015.
The survey analyzes the food security and vulnerability status at the national, district and chiefdom levels. The goal, note officials, is to provide timely and relevant data that will support stakeholders, including the government, UN, development partners and civil society organizations, to target and design fitting programmes for the most vulnerable portions of the country’s population.
This exercise is scheduled to last for four weeks, targeting 35, 000 households (approximately 175, 000 people).
The result of the survey will also serve as a baseline for WFP’s Country Strategic Planning (2020-2024), the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2020-2023, the Government’s Mid-Term National Development Plan (2019-2023), as well as the COVID-19 recovery plan.
Officials went on to note that the CFSVA will therefore shed light on the impact of COVID-19 on the food security and livelihoods of the population, adding that the resulting analysis will inform the design and implementation of response programmes.
“As we officially commence the data collection process, we look forward to receiving, with help from Statistics Sierra Leone, clean, credible data and an analysis that will be used by the government and development partners for planning, targeting and initiating programmes that assist the most vulnerable,” said Mr. Steve Nsubuga, Country Director of WFP, in a statement during the launch of the process on Friday, 30th October.
Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture, the Director of Project, Evaluation, Monitoring and Statistics Division in the ministry, Dr. Ajuba Sheriff, thanked Irish Aid, the government of Japan, the World Bank, UNICEF, FAO, IFAD, and Welthungerhilfe for their contributions towards making the exercise possible.
Dr. Sulaiman Sowe, representing the Irish Aid, revealed that the CFSVA is the latest project funded by his organization, after the Moderate Acute Malnutrition Treatment Programme targeting children 6-59 months, pregnant and lactating women and adolescent girls.
“Ireland’s overarching priority is to ensure that our development programmes contribute to reducing the incidence and mitigating the impact of the pandemic among vulnerable populations in line with the commitment to reaching the farthest behind first,” he said.
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