Liberia Preparedness Plan for Food and Nutrition Security Crises.

This Preparedness Plan provides the foundation for a timely and well coordinated response to an extraordinary Food and Nutrition Security crisis in the country. The Plan defines an extraordinary Food and Nutrition Security crisis in Liberia; details how Food and Nutrition Security crisis risks are monitored and reported; establishes protocols for convening officials at varying levels of authority and responsibility to decide whether to trigger the Plan; explains how programming and financing are mobilised across all partners if the Plan is triggered; and specifies how these working arrangements are maintained and enhanced over time. The goal of this Preparedness Plan is to establish a secure food environment that supports the growth of the national food reserve and ensures that all Liberians have access to safe food in adequate quantity and quality, in order to prevent and mitigate the impacts of acute shocks that can result in the significant and atypical spread or worsening of food crisis, emergency, and catastrophe. In order to achieve its goal, the Plan specifies the following objectives: using the revised 2015 National Food Security and Nutrition Strategy to outline what constitutes an extraordinary Food and Nutrition Security crisis in the country; outlining a system for monitoring and identifying crisis risks and a clear protocol that defines responsibilities and timeframes for early actions and financing; ensuring the mobilisation of timely and predictable financing and early action to prevent and mitigate the impacts of future Food and Nutrition Security crises; strengthening and improving the national food safety and quality control system; improving a well-coordinated and comprehensive food crisis management system across government and its humanitarian and development partners.
The Plan describes the following Food and Nutrition Security crisis risks and drivers: low agricultural productivity due to limited use or availability of fertilisers, improved seeds, agricultural machinery, support services; poor market and road infrastructure; high post-harvest losses due to limited storage facilities; long dry spells caused by unsustainable land use practices; crop pests and disease infestation; flooding and coastal erosion; high and rising temperatures; health epidemics; fire incidence; socioeconomic factors (depreciation of domestic currency and high inflation rate); hydrology and heavy rainfall; civil conflicts. The Plan also details operational arrangement, including risk monitoring team, data collection and reporting, programming team to escalate emerging Food and Nutrition Security crises.