Rice |
With funding from
the Government of Japan, the project titled, "Community based
sustainable food security of smallholder rice producer farmers in target
countries of West Africa" is jointly implemented by the World Food
Programme and the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) in Liberia's central
region of Bong County.
According to the
preliminary outcome of an assessment mission conducted in Liberia early
February by the WFP Project's regional office in Dakar, Senegal, "the
project has progressed well and the project team being very instrumental
in its supporting the deliverables," said the Regional Project
Coordinator for West Africa, Mio Nozoe.
Speaking during a
debriefing meeting with WFP's Country Director Mr. Bievenu Djossa and
WFP staff in Monrovia, Mrs. Nozoe expressed gratitude to the WFP and MOA
field staff: "Thank you and your team for a good job in the field. I am
impressed over what we have achieved at this stage. Almost 100% of
success was achieved with 104 hectares cultivated out of 106 hectares
developed to date," Mrs. Nozoe said.
She also expressed
admiration for the deep interest the farmers themselves, mainly women,
have created in the project as indicated by their involvement and
expression of satisfaction during our visit.
The WFP Regional
Director requested WFP-Liberia to provide greater support to the farmers
in the areas of market access and linkages through the Purchase for
Progress (P4P) initiative "because many farmers have produced a lot of
rice but don't know what to do with it."
The Regional
project technical advisor and member of the assessment mission,
Bakalilou Diaby, underscored the main focus points of the project in
2017.
"This year the
project's focus is on capacity enhancement, strengthening farmer
organizations' leadership and structures, supporting communities in
terms of market and linkages with private sector (like LADA), and
supporting them scale up from piloting to sustainability stage." Diaby
said.
WFP's
Representative and Country Director, Mr. Bienvenu Djossa, reiterated the
Organization's commitment to fighting hunger in Liberia with support of
development partners like the Government of Japan.
"We see this
project as critical in our drive against hunger and are leaving no stone
unturned in providing the required support to farmers. I am pleased
over your finding that the project is doing well. We will also support
standardization of rice varieties, ensure that adequate support is
provided to genuine farmer groups, and increase capacity strengthening,"
Djossa said.
The Project is a
trust fund pilot financed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries (MAFF) of the Government of Japan. It is an agriculture and
capacity strengthening project implemented as an MOA/WFP-MAFF joint
project, aiming to support national strategies, fighting poverty and
food insecurity through rice production.
The project is
being implemented in Liberia and Sierra Leone, countries that once
produced large quantities of rice, but where paddy fields have been
abandoned and dilapidated due to the prolonged displacement of farmers
during the protracted civil wars. Project duration is four years
(2014-2017) during which 106 hectares of unproductive lowlands are to be
developed or rehabilitated and farmers trained in new rice production
techniques.
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