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SIERRA LEONE / LIBERIA / EBOLA HUNGER
STORY: SIERRA LEONE / LIBERA / EBOLA HUNGER
TRT: 2.40
SOURCE: WFP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 12 DECEMBER 2014, SIERRA LEONE, 20 NOVEMBER, LIBERIA, 4 JUNE SIERRA LEONE
12 DECEMBER 2014, MABUREH, WATERLOO, SIERRA LEONE
1. Med shot, Kids waiting outside distribution registration office
2. Wide shot, Villagers listening to info regarding food distribution
3. Wide shot, WFP food distribution
4. Med shot, woman receiving food from WFP
5. SOUNDBITE (KRIO) Ms. Mbalu Thelly, resident of the village.
“If I did not get this food, I would have to be going around (and) with this Ebola going on I might get the virus. But now they have given me the food, I will be able to sit at home and manage with my family so we do not have to go out and get food from outside. I am so happy and really appreciate what they have done for us.”
6. Med shot, WFP food distribution, people leaving with their food ration
7. Med shot, WFP food distribution, people leaving with their food ration
8. Med shot, WFP food distribution, people leaving with their food ration
9. Med shot, WFP food distribution, people leaving with their food ration on motorcycle
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Francis Boima WFP Sierra Leone
“The World Food Programme and its cooperating partner CIDO, are undertaking large scale food distribution to about 47,000 households in the waterloo area. As you may know Freetown or the western area accounts for half of the newly infected cases in Sierra Leone. So the aim of this food distribution is to let family households have enough food so that they will not need to go out looking for food and in the process infecting others.”
11. Wide shot, woman cooking WFP rice
12. Med shot, woman cooking WFP rice
FILE: 20 NOVEMBER 2014, MONROVIA, LIBERIA
13. Wide shot, market place in Monrovia, Liberia
14. Med shot, woman and baby sitting
15. Pan right, woman carrying bucket on head and walking
FILE: 4 JUNE 2014, FENGEHAM VILLAGE, BO DISTRICT, SIERRA LEONE
16. Pan right, farmers preparing land for rice planting
17. Wide shot, farmers preparing land for rice planting
18. Wide shot, child pounding grain
19. Med shot, child pounding grain resting with other children
FILE: 4 JUNE 2014, KENIMA TOWN, KENIMA DISTRICT, SIERRA LEONE
20. Pan right, rice threshing
21. Close up, rice threshing
22. Med shot, rice threshing
23. Wide shot, woman carrying rice grains
The number of people facing food insecurity due to the Ebola epidemic in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone could top one million by March 2015 unless access to food is drastically improved and measures are put in place to safeguard crop and livestock production, two UN agencies said today.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) along with the World Food Programme (WFP) are increasing their efforts to provide food assistance to the half a million people affected by Ebola virus.
Francis Boima of WFP in Sierra Leone says “The World Food Programme and its cooperating partner CIDO, (Community Integrated and Development Organization are undertaking large scale food distribution to about 47,000 households in the waterloo area. As you may know Freetown or the western area accounts for half of the newly infected cases in Sierra Leone. So the aim of this food distribution is to let family households have enough food so that they will not need to go out looking for food and in the process infecting others.”
Ms Mbalu Thelly, a resident of Waterloo, Sierra Leone, expresses gratitude towards the organization’s initiative to feed those in need, and prevent the spread of Ebola. “If I did not get this food, I would have to be going around (and) with this Ebola going on I might get the virus. But now they have given me the food, I will be able to sit at home and manage with my family so we do not have to go out and get food from outside. I am so happy and really appreciate what they have done for us.”
According to the FAO and WFP, in Guinea, 230 000 people are estimated to be severely food insecure because of the impact of Ebola, and by March 2015, the number is expected to swell to more than 470 000. Aggregate food crop production in Guinea for 2014 is expected to be about three percent lower than in the previous year.
In Liberia, 170 000 people are estimated to be severely food insecure, and by March 2015, the number is expected to swell to almost 300 000. The rapid growth in the spread of Ebola in Liberia coincided with the crop-growing and harvesting periods, and farm labour shortages have resulted in an estimated 8 percent decline in aggregate food crop production.
FAO-WFP estimates for November 2014 indicate that 120 000 people in Sierra Leone are severely food. By March 2015, this number is expected to climb to 280 000. Aggregate food production is estimated to be 5 percent lower than 2013. However, rice production is expected to dip by as much as 17 per cent in one of the country's most infected areas, Kailahun, which is usually one of the country's most productive agricultural areas.
FAO is providing assistance to 200 000 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Crucial activities include community campaigns to help stop the spread of the disease, strengthening savings and loan schemes, particularly those involving women; and provision of in-kind or financial support to vulnerable households to safeguard livelihoods and incomes.
WFP is focusing on meeting the basic food and nutrition needs of affected families and communities in the three worst-affected countries. So far, WFP has provided food assistance to more than two million people. WFP is also providing crucial transport and logistics support, particularly to medical partners, and is building Ebola treatments centres and storage hubs for humanitarian interventions.
The scope of the crisis remains large in 2015, and both UN agencies urgently require more funding to continue to assist the most vulnerable communities whose lives and livelihoods are threatened by the disease.
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