By Augustine Octavius, augustineoctavius@gmail.com
The World Food Program (WFP) of the United Nations in Liberia has donated ten laptop computers to the National Food Assistance Agency as part of program aimed at strengthening the capacity of the entity.
The Dell Lenovo i5 Dual Core laptops, with a processing speed of 1.19 GHz and valued at 9,390 United States dollars, were presented to the Director General of the NFAA, C. Neileh Daitouah at a ceremony held at the conference hall of the Ministry of Public Works in Monrovia.
Making the presentation of the consignment on behalf of the Country Director Dr. Aliou Diongue, WFP’s Head of Program in Liberia, Amos Ballayan said the gesture of WFP to its local counterpart (NFAA) is the direct result of President George Manneh Weah’s request to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and WFP to support the NFAA in the areas of technical, logistical, and capacity strengthening to lead Liberia’s food assistance sector as the nation joins in the fight against the scourge of food insecurity around the sub region.
Mr. Ballayan disclosed that WFP, being an international organization, is aware that most – if not all – of its food assistance activities in Liberia would be sustained locally if the technical capacity of national institutions such as the NFAA’s is supported and strengthened.
“So, whatever we do here, we want to make sure that there is a partner or counterpart from the government side that will eventually take over these interventions,” he maintained.
According to WFP’s Head of Program, it is predicated upon the President’s request and in the spirit of institutional collaboration that WFP decided to donate the ten laptop computers to NFAA as part of the organization’s contribution towards the capacity strengthening efforts of national institutions to ensure that as the current Country Strategic Plan comes to an end in 2023, WFP would have strong national counterparts to work with, including the National Food Assistance Agency.
Mr. Ballayan said the donation of the laptop computers is also in response to several requests the agency has made to WFP since the latest Executive Order repositioning the NFAA was issued by the President a year ago.
Amongst NFAA’s requests to WFP, according to Mr. Ballayan, are the training needs of the agency’s workforce in the areas of food security, data analyses, warehouse management, food safety and quality, etc.
He then assured the agency of WFP’s commitment to conducting the training in the mentioned areas as soon as funding is secured.
Mr. Ballayan expressed his particular delight in the donation of the computers, terming it timely in the wake of the recent agreement entered into by the two institutions to implement food distribution to 55,250 school children and their vulnerable parents in targeted public elementary schools across the three counties of Montserrado, Nimba and Maryland.
He said with the timely provision of the laptops, accurate reports from the distribution exercise in the three counties will be enhanced and done seamlessly.
In response, the Director General of National Food Assistance Agency (NFAA), H C. Neileh Daitouah, thanked the WFP for the kind gesture and, on behalf of Agriculture Minister. Jeanine M. Cooper, Chairperson and distinguished members of the Board of Directors of NFAA, administration and general staff of the agency.
He lauded the efforts of international development partners who, like WFP, have contributed in no small measure to the rebranding efforts of the agency since the issuing of Executive Order 101 by H.E President Weah, reawakening the agency after many years of institutional dormancy.
Daitouah made specific mention of office equipment, furniture and stationeries WFP provided to the agency a few months after President George M. Weah issued the Executive Order.
While acknowledging WFP’s new Country Director’s (Dr. Aliou Diongue’s) willingness to work with NFAA as evidenced by the recent partnership agreement signed between the two institutions to implement the distribution of food to schoolchildren and their vulnerable parents as well as the donation of laptop computers to the agency, Hon. Daitouah hailed the significant efforts of Ms. Karla Hershy, WFP’s former Country Director under whose leadership the agency first saw the light of day in its repositioning efforts.
The Director General, however, stressed the need for the agency’s office space, saying the NFAA will be better poised to work effectively when all of its staff and employees are housed under one roof
Daitouah used the occasion to also disclose that the cost of NFAA’s five-year strategic plan which is being developed by LIPA is borne by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in the tune of 6,500.00 United States Dollars .
Meanwhile, speaking to the press moments after the presentation ceremony, the Acting Director of Public Relations and Communications, R. Webster Nyian said with the combined efforts of WFP and FAO to support NFAA, the agency’s statutory mandates as spelt out in the 101 Executive Order would surely be executed across the entire country, thereby providing concrete meaning to government’s flagship Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development in keeping with global efforts to address the troubling issues of food insecurity.
The National Food Assistance Agency is a non-ministerial agency of government that was established by Executive Orders (E.Os) in the 1970s.
Notably, those E.Os were repeatedly issued annually from that period up to a few years after the civil crises.
However, the agency’s activities came to a halt after the first post-war elections that witnessed the presidency of Mr. Charles Ghankay Taylor.
But the worst period in the operations of the agency was noticed during the 12-year regime of Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf when the agency had neither head to steer its activities nor logistical and enough budgetary support to fully function as a state institution.
Notwithstanding the many years of sheer neglect, NFAA, for the past year, actively joined its international food assistance partners following the most recent Executive Order issued by H.E. President George Manneh Weah on 27 April 2020 rebranding the agency to get on par with countries of the world in ensuring ‘zero hunger’ including ‘zero poverty’ espoused by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
It is worth noting, however, that the neglect by previous governments of this once vital agency of government, which played a pivotal role in the past by providing food to vulnerable citizens and supporting school feeding programs across the country, still serves as the root cause for the annual budgetary constraints NFAA faces in its drive to function to the fullest potentials.
Currently, NFAA operates on an annual budget of US$124,745 representing only compensation for its 29 employees.