STRATEGIC RESPONSE
The Food Security and Nutrition Working Group – of which FAO supports the secretariat – recommends the following actions: (i) re-open key periodic markets under sanitary conditions; (ii) facilitate transportation of food commodities to market centres; (iii) encourage farmers and farmers’ groups to resume farming under safe conditions in chiefdoms or sections where EVD prevalence is low; (iv) support smallholders with agricultural inputs for the next agricultural season; and (v) monitor farm harvest and market dynamics. The most urgent priority of FAO and all United Nations (UN) partners is stopping the epidemic and ending the tragic loss of life. Immediate action must also be taken to avoid a potential food security crisis.
This National Response Programme is in line with FAO’s overall response strategy and is part of the Regional Response Programme to the EVD outbreak in West Africa.
FAO is appealing for a total of USD 12.75 million to assist nearly 70 000 farming households most affected by the outbreak in Sierra Leone.