Endowed with vast and varied natural resources, a large biodiversity, lush vegetation and a climate favourable to agriculture, Liberia has enormous potential in mining and ecotourism, as well as food and cash crop production. But decades of economic plunder and social disinvestments, amplified by two civil wars, eroded human capital, laid waste to social infrastructure and ravaged productive assets.
War ended in August 2003 with the signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement, followed by deployment of a 15,000-strong UN peacekeeping force, UNMIL. Under the aegis of UNMIL and the broader international community, general and presidential elections were held late 2005. Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected President and Liberia returned to democratic rule. Sirleaf was elected to run a second term as president in November 2011. The country now enjoys relative political stability and improved security due to the government’s efforts and international political, financial and military support which have strengthened civil authority throughout the country and enabled a gradual recovery of the economy.
However, the social, economic, infrastructural, and human costs of the civil war still linger more than a decade after the war’s end. The country remains one of the poorest in the world, ranked among the bottom five countries (182 out of 187) on the 2011 UNDP Human Development Index and 24.3 on the IFPRI 2010 Global Hunger Index. 58% of Liberia’s 4.1 million population lives below the poverty line (UNDP HDI, 2010). Liberia imports more than 60% of its food requirements with 41% of households not having adequate access to food. 42 % of children under 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition (CFSNS 2010).
The government of Liberia has a vision of a ‘hunger – free Liberia’. As part of this vision the government launched a three-year Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) in June 2008 to expand peace and security, revitalize the economy, strengthen governance and the rule of law, rehabilitate infrastructure and deliver basic social services. The effects of high global fuel and food prices have filtered into Liberia domestic economy with notable impacts on vulnerable segments of the population.
As a key partner in the food assistance sector, WFP has put in place operational response to support the government and instituted immediate food assistance that is being closely monitored and adjusted according to prevailing circumstances. In 2013 WFP will merge its portfolio in Liberia into a single, coherent delivery platform as part of WFP – Liberia’s country programme, drafted to support the Government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (2012 -2016) and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (2013 – 2017).
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