CIDRAP - FAO launches initiative to address Ebola-caused food issues

[Laidback Al]

FAO launches initiative to address Ebola-caused food issues

Oct 08, 2014

http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2014/10/ebola-scan-oct-08-2014

In response to indirect impacts of Ebola, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today launched a program to urgently assist 90,000 vulnerable households in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone whose food supplies and livelihoods are threatened by the Ebola epidemic.
The FAO's "Regional Response Programme for West Africa" will ramp up the work the agency is already doing with governments, UN partners, and local networks of agriculture, veterinary, and forestry workers to slow disease spread, meet immediate and long-term food and nutrition security needs, and build resilience, according to an FAO news story.
Program activities are organized around four key objectives, the agency said:

1. Save lives by stopping the spread of the disease through social mobilization, training, and awareness-raising activities
2. Boost incomes and agricultural production to safeguard livelihoods through rapid impact assessments and support to crop and livestock production and trade
3. Build resilience of communities to disease threats by improving early-warning systems and emergency response
4. Strengthen coordination to improve response by addressing food security issues

The FAO is asking for $30 million to support the program over the next 12 months and says addressing agriculture- and food-related issues cannot wait.
Oct 8 FAO news story
Full program report