Weak purchasing power and market disruptions reduce food access for poor households
Key Messages
A recent SMS-based trader survey conducted by FEWS NET and GeoPoll in Sierra Leone and Liberia found that over 40 percent of surveyed traders reported reduced market functioning or closed markets in their local communities. Market functioning and trade flows are generally better in Guinea, with the exception of the southern forest zone where the Ebola outbreak has been most intense.
Certain international borders have recently reopened and restrictions on population movements have been lifted in some zones. However, despite these recent improvements, market disruptions and a general economic slowdown continue to result in below-average household incomes and purchasing power for many households across the three countries.
According to recently published estimates by WFP and FAO, 2014/15 agricultural production in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone will be slightly below-average, with the greatest production declines in areas that were early epicenters in the Ebola outbreak, such as Nzérékoré in Guinea, Kailahun in Sierra Leone, and Lofa and Margibi in Liberia.
As most agricultural households are consuming their recent harvests, food security outcomes are currently most severe amongst households directly impacted by Ebola and poor, non-agricultural households residing in worst-affected zones. However, as households become increasingly market dependent during the first quarter of 2015, atypically poor purchasing power will limit food access. By June 2015, Stressed (IPC Phase 2) and Crisis (IPC Phase 3) food insecurity is expected for poor households across much of the region.