Liberia: “It Is Our Responsibility to Help”

Jeety gives food to a hungry man on Broad Street. 

... Says Jeety

Business tycoon Dr. Upjit Singh Sachdeva has fed poor and disadvantaged Liberians as well as prisoners as part of his holiday routine.

The feeding, which took place on Christmas day, was one of the largest since Dr. Sachdeva started the food distribution to the Monrovia Central Prison and disadvantaged Liberians.

It involves the distribution of delicious cooked home meals, along with juice, soft drink, and a cake. 

The goal of the distribution, as it has been since five years ago, is to avoid seeing poor and disadvantaged Liberians going to bed on hungry stomachs -- helping to alleviate the high rate of hunger in the country.

In a brief remark, Dr. Sachdeva it is his moral obligation to give back to the poor while helping society fight hunger. 

“I believe that there is no greater privilege than to be fortunate enough to devote one time and resources to help others,” said Dr. Sachdeva, popularly known as ‘Jeety’. “Little means a lot, I am doing God's work, as such, it brings me joy.  It is the responsibility of everyone including me to help those who can't afford a delicious meal per day.” 

Since 2017, the initiative by Dr. Sachdeva says his feeding program has provided hot-cooked meals to over 2 million Liberians. It gained prominence during the first outbreak of the Coronavirus in Liberia in March 2020.

But for Christmas 2021, the feeding program set another record by distributing a little over 5,000 plates, far more than its regular distribution of 1,000 to 2,000 plates, which benefits the physically challenged, visually impaired, mentally challenged, disadvantaged youths, children, among others.

They came from several parts of Montserrado County, including slum communities and ghettos the Bushrod Island, Central Monrovia, and Paynesville, Sinkor.

Food Security and hunger in Liberia is a severe problem, according to statistics from Global Hunger Index (GHI). The country ranks 112th out of 117 countries on the GHI 2019. The index consists of a range of scores and where Liberia holds a score of 34.9. The score indicates the country’s hunger levels are ‘serious’ and on the brink of becoming ‘alarming’. 

Approximately 45% of Liberia’s population is chronically or acutely malnourished. 

According to Famine Early Warning Systems Network, 32% of the country’s population is classified as having moderate or severe chronic food insecurity. 

In Liberia, hunger was a problem before the Coronavirus pandemic. Since COVID-19, the situation has gotten worse. Before COVID-19, an estimated 1.6 million Liberians were food insecure, and nearly 1 in 3 children suffered from chronic malnutrition. 

Estimates from the World Food Programme suggest that food insecurity has risen by over 80% since the start of the pandemic due to the compounding effects of COVID-19.

Also, a recent report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization noted that 97.8 percent of Liberians cannot afford to regularly consume a healthy diet, making Liberia the worst of 170 countries examined. Chronic malnutrition among children in recent years has left one out of every three children permanently stunted.