--- title: Ebola is Causing Liberians to Eat Fewer Meals description: Liberian families are feeling the pressures of food insecurity, and are eating less. canonical: https://time.com/3578090/ebola-fewer-meals/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-11T16:14:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:07:06.290Z article:section: Health og:title: Ebola's Other Toll: Food On the Table og:description: Liberian families are feeling the pressures of food insecurity, and are eating less. og:url: https://time.com/3578090/ebola-fewer-meals/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d8f5f6a52946b66/69876827a988caef576aaaa2/liberia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: People draw water in the West Point neighborhood, where many people have died from Ebola, in Monrovia, Liberia on Oct. 17, 2014. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ebola's Other Toll: Food On the Table twitter:description: Liberian families are feeling the pressures of food insecurity, and are eating less. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d8f5f6a52946b66/69876827a988caef576aaaa2/liberia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ebola's Other Toll: Food On the Table > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Nov 11, 2014 4:14 PM UTC  People draw water in the West Point neighborhood, where many people have died from Ebola, in Monrovia, Liberia on Oct. 17, 2014. People draw water in the West Point neighborhood, where many people have died from Ebola, in Monrovia, Liberia on Oct. 17, 2014. John Moore—Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Nov 11, 2014 4:14 PM UTC Eighty-five percent of households in Liberia are eating fewer meals a day as a way to deal with lower incomes and higher prices related to the Ebola epidemic, according to a [new report](http://www.mercycorps.org/research-resources/economic-impact-ebola-crisis-select-liberian-markets) from the global humanitarian agency Mercy Corps. Most households are also reducing the amount they’re eating at each meal, and report supplementing with lower-quality and cheaper food. When asked in surveys about household priorities, Liberians listed food as their most urgent need even before health care and clothing. A variety of factors are playing into Liberian families’ inability to get food on the table, including restrictions on transportation and lack of quality products at local markets. One of the major industries hit by the Ebola outbreak in the three countries affected by the outbreak is [agriculture](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29028768), which is a dominating industry in Liberia. Other Liberians lost incomes due to protocols put in place to contain the virus, like closing schools. Teachers employed by the government still receive salaries, but private school teachers do not.  Decrease in number of household income earners MercyCorps About 63% of households also reported an increase in expenses since a state of emergency was declared in August. Liberians used to rely on cross-border trade with Guinea and Sierra Leone, but the epicenter of the outbreak was the very area around shared borders. Now, all imports have shifted to Monrovia, putting pressure on supply chains and prices. But vendors in local markets estimate a 52% reduction in their number of customers each day, since large gathering of people has been discouraged. “If attention is not paid to the economic impact of the crisis, the situation will continue to deteriorate over the coming months,” the report reads. Mercy Corps says it plans to help farmers by offering cash transfers, emergency food assistance, and aid in goods transport. Working with the local government to improve transportation conditions while maintaining tight Ebola protocols is another way to increase both incomes and food availability. However, bigger initiatives have to start now in order to ensure the current food crisis is temporary. For instance, the upcoming planting season needs to continue on schedule and there needs to be a greater assessment of the whole region’s transportation system. If action isn’t taken soon, the impact on the country’s economy and food system after the outbreak could be devastating. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3578090/ebola-fewer-meals/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3578090/ebola-fewer-meals/"},"headline":"Ebola's Other Toll: Food On the Table","datePublished":"2014-11-11T16:14:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:06.290Z","description":"Liberian families are feeling the pressures of food insecurity, and are eating less.","url":"https://time.com/3578090/ebola-fewer-meals/","keywords":["ebola","Economy","Transportation","Food","Liberia","Ebola outbreak","meals","food insecurity"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d8f5f6a52946b66/69876827a988caef576aaaa2/liberia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d8f5f6a52946b66/69876827a988caef576aaaa2/liberia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"People draw water in the West Point neighborhood, where many people have died from Ebola, in Monrovia, Liberia on Oct. 17, 2014.","caption":"People draw water in the West Point neighborhood, where many people have died from Ebola, in Monrovia, Liberia on Oct. 17, 2014.","creditText":"John Moore—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ebola/","name":"ebola"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3578090/ebola-fewer-meals/","name":"Ebola's Other Toll: Food On the Table"}}]}] ```