Monrovia — Despite being enacted into law as an autonomous institution, with the clear mandate to lead, coordinate and regulate all food assistance programs across Liberia, the National Food Assistance Agency (NFAA) has erroneously been placed under the Ministry of Agriculture(MoA).
With a long history of service to the Liberian people, having operated under Executive Orders since the 1970s, NFAA was on June 17 of 2025 fully enacted into law through an Act of the Legislature as a stand-alone body to lead the country's food assistance services.
However, in spite of its new status, the institution has uncovered that the USD950,000 appropriated for it in the 2026 National Budget was 'inadvertently placed' under the Ministry of Agriculture as a spending entity, instead of itself.
Speaking at a news conference held in Monrovia on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, the Director General of NFAA, Borkai A.M. Sirleaf, disclosed that the entity has engaged the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning(MFDP) to correct this technical error to ensure that the funds appropriated by the National Legislature are properly aligned with the legal mandate of the NFAA.
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In line with the institutional mandate of NFAA, particularly Section 9.1 of the Act, he warned against all other government ministries, agencies, and commissions that hitherto had been carrying out the statutory roles of the NFAA to cease to do so.
"This enactment provides the NFAA with the legal authority, institutional clarity, and national responsibility to ensure that food assistance to vulnerable populations is effective, coordinated, transparent, reliable, and credible," stated the NFAA boss.
Food Assistance to Vulnerable Populations
Since becoming an autonomous agency, Sirleaf reveals that NFAA has continued to provide food assistance to vulnerable populations with the support of individuals, groups of individuals, institutions and development partners.
Most recently, he recounted that the Agency received US $50,000 from the African Union, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to support an emergency feeding program targeting vulnerable populations.
The intervention was implemented across eight (8) counties, namely: Grand Bassa, Bomi, Grand Cape Mount, Bong, Margibi, Nimba, Grand Gedeh, and Maryland.
Accordingly, as he informed reporters that a total of thirty-eight (38) institutions benefited from the assistance, including: 13 orphanages, six central prisons, four hospitals, ten disability centers (i.e., blind, deaf, dumb, and physically challenged), one (1) safe home, and four old folks' homes.
"Overall, the intervention reached 4,440 beneficiaries, comprising 2,824 males and 1,616 females. Ladies and gentlemen of the press, the food commodities distributed under this intervention included: 1,202 bags of 25kg rice (Mostly Home-Grown), 644 gallons of vegetable oil, and 282 gallons of palm oil."
At the same time, Mr. Sirleaf disclosed that NFAA received a total of 200 bags of locally produced rice from the Ministry of Agriculture and distributed it among seven vulnerable groups in Monrovia and its environs.
Those institutions, he pointed out, included the Disabled Right Association of Liberia (DRAL), Antoinette Tubman Cheshire Home, Barmaeus Faith Foundation, Liberia National Muslim Association of the Blind, Center for Rehabilitation and Reintegration, Hope in God Association of the Blind, and Saanor United Muslim Association of the Blind and other Disabled.
Additional Support and National Commitment
Prior to the AU's intervention, Mr. Sirleaf also recalled that NFAA received two separate donations in the sum of USD5,000 from the National Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP) to provide food assistance to vulnerable populations.
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The NASCORP funding, according to him, provided food support to Arthington Public School, Bomi Hospital, Monrovia Central Prison, Kakata Central Prison, and the Disabled Children Rehabilitation Organization.
"A total of 2,202 students, patients, inmates, and children with special needs benefited directly from said support. It is as well reassuring to note that the National Food Assistance Agency (NFAA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Liberia finally signed a Letter of Agreement (LoA) on January 21, 2026 to strengthen institutional and operational capacities with a view to reducing food insecurity and improving access to nutritious food in Liberia."
"This milestone was achieved following months of consultative engagements with FAO. The Letter of Agreement is expected to fund the development of a five-year Strategic Plan (SP) for NFAA. Therefore, we have partnered with Partnership for Sustainable Development in Liberia (PSDL), a consultancy firm in Liberia, to do our Strategic Plan," added the NFAA head.
