Africa-Press – Liberia. Brewerville, Montserrado County- United States Ambassador to Liberia, Michael McCarthy has urged the government of Liberia to strive to ensure that Liberian children are food secured and healthy, particularly in the schools.
Ambassador McCarthy disclosed that the country’s food insecurity problem continues to worsen as the result from the government and World Food Programme’ s rapid food insecurity assessment which shows that 40 percent of households with more than two million people are food insecure today.
Ambassador McCarthy made the statement during the ceremony marking the launch of phase two of the Mary Meals’ school feeding program that is being funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The Mary Meal School Feeding Program will provide hot meals to more than 45,000 children in 241 schools in four counties, mainly Montserrado, Bong Bomi and Gbarpolu counties until 2024.
According to him, children and families are unable to get enough food to meet daily nutritional needs that’s why the United States government’s feed the future initiative will continue to support Liberia to develop its agricultural sector and break the visual circle of poverty and hunger.
The US envoy maintained that the program would address chronic hunger and make the difference for students from vulnerable Liberian families.
Said Ambassador McCarthy: “These students have the assurance of a nutritional every school day and it also a better incentive to enrol and regularly attend school. School that provides critical needed social protection for Liberia’s poorest families especially doing this challenging era of global food insecurity and shortages. Over the long term, the best solution to food insecurity in Liberia is to develop a productive agricultural sector. Liberia has everything it takes, a conducive climax, good soil for production, and hardworking entrepreneurs.”
The Ambassador added: “We must now all work together to ensure Liberia takes advantage of the resources to increase agricultural activities, for security and nutrients as the Liberia government work toward the long-term goal to eliminate school fees.”
He urged the Ministry of Education to allocate resources to schools to implement short-term measures to reduce financial barrier on parents who cannot afford school fees.
He stressed the need to prioritize procuring food supply from local producers in way to incentivize local food production and encouraging farmers to grow more food to generate income to support their families. “We are working with the government, and we strongly encouraged the government and Ministry of Education to do whatever they can do to eliminate the school fees in the long run,” he encouraged.
“We need to support families so that they don’t have to choose school for survival and education that can provide a path out of poverty for their children.”
Making a brief remark, the Country Director of Mary’s Meals Liberia, Paula Nawrocki thanked the US government for its support in providing daily nutritious meal for children in their place of education.
According to Madam Nawrocki, the two years program will not just help to address the immediate needs of hunger but will contribute to the long-term development of communities and insecurity.
“This latest support will make such a huge difference to children, families and communities across Liberia,” she said.
Added Ms. Nawrocki: “The food the children receive is sometimes the first meal of the day and it helps them to satisfy their hunger or the ache or hunger and gives them the energy to concentrate, participate in lessons, and make the most of their time in school. In enabling them to continue with their education, it also offers hope for a more prosperous future for the children which, in turn, allows Liberia to work more positively towards achieving its development goals. At Mary’s Meals, we have an over-arching theme around our work which is “Food Changes the Story and that is certainly the case here in Liberia.
The “Together for the Children of Liberia” partnership with USAID requires Everyone’s input and efforts to fulfil our promise -that every child receives one daily meal in their place of education.”
Ms. Nawrocki averred that her group relies on close, collaborative partnerships with organizations who share its values, vision, and hope for the future. “We consider ourselves incredibly fortunate to have forged such relationships with USAID, with the Liberian Government/Ministry of
Education and, of course, with the wonderful communities we serve. We are all in this together and – for your unwavering support and constant co-operation.”
Also speaking, Deputy Minister for Instructions at the Ministry for Education, Alexander Duopu said the program is intended to alleviate short-term hunger in order improve learning capacity for children.
He stated that it will promote a paradigm shift in attitude of agriculture through interventions such as school gardens and a curriculum that provide agricultural awareness, knowledge, and skills.
Mr. Duou indicated that the program will contribute to social equity and addressed gender and social inequalities in education through communities, parents, and teachers. “The significance of the school feeding program for school children in Liberia is to motivate students to attend school regularly, help students to concentrate well in the lessons, thereby enabling them also to perform well in their lessons,” he said.
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