The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has received a generous contribution of US$1.4 million from the Government of Iceland to provide nutritious meals to 36,000 school children in 167 public schools in Bum, Imperri, Kpanda Kemo, Sittia, Sogbeni and Yawbeko chiefdoms, Bonthe district. WFP in partnership with the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, will use this funding to strengthen the school feeding programme in Bonthe district by ensuring at least one food commodity in the food basket is sourced from local smallholder farmers. This will contribute to offering a reliable market to local smallholder farmers while simultaneously improving dietary diversity for school children.

“When farmers are linked to predictable markets this will incentivise them to produce more nutritious crops and increase their income,” says Yvonne Forsen, WFP Representative and Country Director in Sierra Leone. “We are grateful for the generous contribution and commitment of the people and Government of Iceland.”

In Bonthe district, WFP will implement a climate sensitive Home-Grown School Meals programme targeting 136 primary schools. This programme will support 38 women Farmer Based Organizations, offering training, agricultural inputs and market opportunities to 1,140 women.

With the Iceland funding, farmer-based organizations will be supported to cultivate and deliver fresh vegetables and orange fleshed sweet potato to the target schools. WFP will also include locally-sourced fish in the school meals menu once a week in eight schools, while 1,500 students will benefit from improved school infrastructure such as kitchens and storage.

To provide a sustainable source of fuel for cooking, WFP will establish woodlots at school, and provide fuel-efficient stoves to reduce firewood consumption and protect the health of the cooks.

“Our contribution will boost the Feed Salone initiative of the Government of Sierra Leone and enhance access and retention in schools for all children in Bonthe district to reach their full potential,” said Ásdís Bjarnadóttir, Head of Mission, Embassy of Iceland. “We are also excited about the programme introducing fish in school meals which will not only provide children with essential nutrients but has the potential to contribute to improving food security and build more resilient food systems”.

Overall, in Sierra Leone, WFP provides school meals to 238,000 pupils in five districts including 28,000 school children under the home-grown school meals programme. The Government of Sierra Leone has prioritized home-grown school feeding as a key component of its National School Feeding Policy, with considerable premium on its multi-faceted nature including linking school feeding activities to local food production and procurement that has the potential to induce social and economic development of communities.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Food Programme (WFP).

The United Nations (H6) joint mission has concluded its visit to Liberia, highlighting the urgent need for action to combat the high burden of increasing maternal and new-born deaths in the country. The delegation revealed that 1,100 women and 8,510 new-borns die annually during childbirth in Liberia.

Dr. Anshu Banerjee, H6 Mission Team Lead – WHO’s Director of the Department of Maternal, New-born, Child, and Adolescent Health and Ageing in Geneva, emphasized the gravity of the situation, stating, “Eleven hundred women die every year in Liberia giving birth, and of course, no woman should be dying giving birth.“

The delegation expressed concerns over the increase in new-born mortality rates and the alarming number of stillbirths, attributing these tragedies to a lack of quality care during childbirth and antenatal care, among other factors.

Dr. Banerjee outlined specific targets to reduce maternal and new-born mortality, emphasizing the need to enhance access to healthcare services, reduce high out-of-pocket expenditure for health services, improve health infrastructure, and enact legal frameworks to address gender-based violence, female genital mutilation, child marriages, and teenage pregnancies, among other issues.

Speaking during a briefing session at the Executive Mansion with the H6 team and Heads of UN agencies of the H6 partnership, H.E. President Joseph Boakai, said the issues highlighted by the H6 Mission are of national importance in line with the ARREST agenda, “As a government, we are committed to making things turn around. We commit to being a responsible society that will look out for our women and children. It’s our challenge, and we have the manpower, commitment, and goodwill to ensure that we make this a record of the past.” Meanwhile. H.E. President Joseph Boakai has lauded the team for conducting such an important exercise.

In an earlier interaction, Liberian lawmakers acknowledged the severity of the crisis and pledged to collaborate with the executive branch to address it. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable J. Fonati Koffa reaffirmed the Legislature’s commitment to supporting the health sector, citing the recent substantial increase in the health budget as evidence of their dedication to building a resilient healthcare system.

Ms. Comfort Lamptey, UN RC ai, and UN Women Liberia Representative noted the need to ensure that the $80 million dollars allocated to the health sector in the national budget prioritises investments to reduce the high rates of maternal mortality.

Dr. Clement Peter, WHO Liberia Representative, added, “We need to translate these recommendations into workable actions for implementation in the next 6 years and ensure that these numbers are reduced to acceptable levels- this is doable if we will work together.“

Mr. Andy Brookes, UNICEF Representative in Liberia, emphasized, “This is not just about data and numbers; it is about real people’s lives. We came with a message of urgency, and the consensus around the table speaks of commitment.“

UNFPA Representative Bidisha Pillai commended the First Lady, in her role as Maternal and Newborn Health Champion, the Minister of Health, and the legislators for their commitment to reducing maternal, newborn, and child mortality. She stressed that the UN H6 partners will continue to support Liberia’s efforts to save lives and achieve the health-related national agenda and Sustainable Development Goals.

The H6 joint mission is committed to accelerating the reduction of maternal, new-born, and child deaths in Liberia. The mission has recommended specific interventions to reduce maternal deaths by 50 percent in four years, new-born deaths by 63 percent in five years, and stillbirths by 50 percent in five years.

The mission also emphasized the importance of inter-sectoral coordination and the linkages to the ARREST agenda, which focuses on Agriculture, Roads, Rule of Law, Education, Sanitation, and Tourism. The mission commended the increased budget allocation for health; however, stressed the need for timely disbursement and effective expenditure tracking, increased access to free education up to high school for all, particularly making the link between girls dropping out and teenage pregnancy, empowerment and meaningful engagement of adolescents and youth in policy making and implementation of youth-friendly services, and improvement of living conditions and infrastructure.

The H6 partnership remains steadfast in its commitment to supporting Liberia in achieving its healthcare goals and ensuring that no woman dies while giving life and that children should be born and live healthy lives and achieve their fullest potential.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN Women – Africa.

This follows a heartedly embrace of the program by the locals of the area.

The revelation was made yesterday at Pokwero sub-county during a meeting between the Special Presidential Assistant on Political Affairs, Mr. Owiny Alfred Thopacu and the PDM beneficiaries in the area.

Mr. Owiny is also in charge of PDM program monitoring in Northern Uganda.

Pokwero sub-county has six parishes that include Pokwero East, Janam- Orwenyo, Owiny, Oceke, Pokwero and Lobodegi. Over 600 beneficiaries from the six parishes attended the meeting.

Mr. Owiny asked beneficiaries to jealously guard the PDM program, an initiative that was started by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to help Ugandans join the money economy.

“The President wants each household in the rural areas to chase away poverty through PDM,” he advised.

Mr. Owiny reiterated his call to the beneficiaries to be extremely careful on enterprise selection, saying they should choose ventures that have high returns.

He offered to give farmers free cassava cuttings from his 5-acre cassava garden for planting once the rain stabilises.

“You must own PDM SACCOs, your village bank, that the government will be adding on more money each financial year and after 5 years every parish bank will have shs.500 million,” he said.

The LCV Chairman of Pakwach District, Mr. Robert Omito encouraged the beneficiaries of PDM funds to always attend such meetings once invited so that they get solutions to their challenges as far as the program is concerned and also get to hear some of the inspirational success stories.

The Pakwach Deputy Resident District Commissioner (DRDC), Mr. Twaibu Achile warned distractors to immediately stop spreading negative sentiments about the President’s development programs such as the PDM.

“When we were mobilising the beneficiaries to attend this meeting some negative elements were also demobilising you, that we are going to arrest you, when you have not even multiplied in your enterprises. Now arrest you for what?” he wondered.

The Ag. sub-county Chief-Pokwero, Ms. Hawa Sebbi gave a detailed account on the progress of the PDM program in her area.

She also recommended that the government should release PDM funds to beneficiaries in time so that farming operations are not affected.

One of the beneficiaries, Ms. Florence Oikane from Lobodegi parish said the funds she received, she used it to start a piggery farm and it has now registered success.

Mr. Coorom Patrick from Pokwero parish said he has since invested the PDM  funds in his 1.25 acres of cassava whereas Mr. Jayik Felix used the money to invest in fishing.

The meeting was also attended by senior government and security officials.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of State House Uganda.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture Water, Fisheries and Rural Development (MLAFWRD) have set up the El Nino Drought Action Committee (DAC) to develop drought mitigation strategies to combat the impacts of El Nino induced drought.

The DAC was set up this week through a multi-stakeholder meeting attended by more than 60 key stakeholders representing all provinces and sectors in Zimbabwe. The DAC will be responsible for coordinating all drought response interventions to save lives in the immediate-term and build climate-resilient livelihoods and agrifood systems in the longer-term. Chaired by the Permanent Secretary of MLAFWRD, Professor Obert Jiri, the Ministry and FAO are the secretariat to the taskforce, and they will play a key role in coordinating all the agriculture related drought response actions through its networks in Government, private sector, and development partners.

“We gathered as key stakeholders in the Agriculture sector to coordinate our efforts and create synergies as we address the ongoing El Nino induced drought that is ravaging our country. Together, we have the power to overcome the challenges posed by drought and build a more resilient and sustainable future for all. The formation of the Drought Action Committee marks a crucial step forward in our collective journey towards a drought-resilient nation,” asserted Clemence Bwenje, Chief Director, Business Development, Markets and Trade in the MLAFWRD.

The committee’s primary interventions are to develop short-term and long-term mitigation measures in the agriculture sector in particular areas on crops, water, livestock, fisheries, agriculture, and irrigation. Working in close collaboration with FAO and key stakeholders, the MLAWFRD through the Food Security and Livelihoods cluster, the sectoral response strategy is aligned to the Drought Risk Management Strategy 2017-2025 and the El Nino Response Plan (April 2024). The DAC’s strategy will protect lives and livelihoods allowing affected households to absorb and recover from the immediate impact of the El Nino induced drought.

“The El Nino weather phenomenon, coupled with widespread drought, is posing an increasing risk to food security in Southern Africa including Zimbabwe. Setting up of this committee is in line with FAO’s Anticipatory Action and Response Plan, which is anchored on mitigating the expected impacts of El Nino-induced climate extremes on agriculture and food security. FAO is committed to supporting the Drought Action Committee to achieve its objectives and action plan,” said Louis Muhigirwa, Deputy FAO Representative to Zimbabwe speaking on behalf of Patrice Talla, FAO Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa.

During the meeting, the MLAFWRD presented the proposed Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the DAC including the expected deliverables and timelines in alignment to the Drought Response Plan. Stakeholders had the opportunity to deliberate on the proposed ToRs with the objective to formulate co-owned realistic and measurable interventions that clearly spell out roles and responsibilities of the DAC.

The meeting outlined the sectors that need specific response strategies and the required resources as well as the proposed resource mobilization strategy. The meeting agreed on sub-committees that will spearhead implementation of the El Nino mitigation strategy namely: Wheat, Crops, Livestock and fisheries, Horticulture, Irrigation, Grain mobilisation, strategic grain reserve, Water and WASH, Mechanisation, Data and Knowledge management.

FAO in liaison with the Ministry of Agriculture will lead the process through a consultant to engage key agriculture stakeholders, from the public sector and private sector to assist in the preparation of a comprehensive agriculture based costed resilience implementation plan which will focus on the short-, medium- and long-term interventions. This is expected to develop recommendations of key institutional arrangements and responsibilities for the successful implementation of the resilience plan and sustainability of the responses.

Going forward, each sub-committee will develop an action plan and implementation matrix with timelines and key deliverables. Progress of implementation will be continuously reviewed and reported to the main committee. The MLAFWRD is open to partnerships and a whole stakeholder approach to mitigate the impacts of the El Nino induced drought.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).