Document Type: Progress Reports

The Food and Enterprise Development (FED) Program for Liberia is a USAID-funded initiative that began in September 2011. FED is helping the government of Liberia achieve food security — in terms of food availability, utilization, and accessibility — by building an indigenous incentive structure that assists a range of agricultural stakeholders to adopt commercial approaches and actively incorporates women and youth.

This incentive structure is being built upon:

• Improved technologies for productivity and profitability;
• Expanded and modernized input supply and extension systems;
• Commercial production, marketing, and processing;
• Enterprise Services; and
• Workforce and Human Capacity Development.

FED’s activities work with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and the private sector to link communities to extension services, agricultural inputs, improved technologies, processing services, market information, transportation, credit, and appropriate education, training, and business development services.

Over the life of the five-year FED program, expanded market linkages will lead to substantial income and job growth and increases in the production, processing, marketing, and nutritional utilization of rice, cassava, vegetables, and goats in Bong, Lofa, Nimba, Grand Bassa, Montserrado, and Margibi counties. These counties are part of expanding development corridors that aim to foster intra- and inter-county commerce, and improve food availability and access for all Liberians.

FED’s methodology is market-led, value chain-driven, continuously dedicated to indigenous capacity building, and specifically focused on benefiting Liberia’s women and youth. FED’s approach aims to be collaborative, catalytic, and driven by the goals and objectives of our partner clients. It will lead to increases in incomes for rural households, new employment opportunities for Liberians, increased access to food and improved household dietary diversity scores for food-insecure Liberians, and the adoption of improved inputs, farming practices, and the modern technologies which will boost agricultural productivity.

FED is implemented by Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), supported by subcontracts with the Cadmus Group, International Fertilizer Development Center, Louisiana State University and Winrock International.

Summary

In November 2012, FED workedwith four seedling producer training in its peri-urban agriculture (PUA)in Margibi and Montserrado counties. They trained 17 vegetable seedling producers who are currently selling seedlings to vegetable growers in Margibi and Montserrado counties. The PUA team will continue training new seedling producers throughout FY-2013. It has been suggested that some seedling producers could provide both seedlings and inputs recommended for vegetable production.

The first training session took place at BWI campus, Kakata City, in collaboration with the PUA team. Four vegetable seedling producer trainers and five seedling producers who are trying to scale-up production were involved. The training covered how to run small seedling production units, with a special focus on strengthening marketing.

An innovative technology for removing the husk from paddy rice has been produced in a private metal workshop in Monrovia with the support of FED consultant, Mory Thiaw. This processing technology is lower in cost, lighter in weight, and more energy efficient than other intermediate-scale rice dehullers. Unlike other dehullers, it does not remove the bran from the paddy rice, making the consumption of the resulting dehulled rice more nutritious. Dehuller testing has exhibited a high dehulling rate (i.e., percentage of dehulled grains to total grains entering the dehuller) from parboiled rice of 95 percent.

Rice harvesting is ongoing in the four counties while the FED enumerators were doing the yield estimate across the counties. To address the post-harvest problem faced by rice farmers, FED demonstrated rice parboiling and the impact rice dehuller in Neegbien, Nimba County. During the parboiling exercise, farmers were taught the basic procedures for parboiling.

Maintenance work including weeding and soy flour application were carried out at the demonstration sites during the period under review. There were also insects and pest attacks at some of the sites in Nimba, Grand Bassa, and Lofa counties. Grasshopper has been the main insect attacking the young cassava leaves.

In early November, 40 new groups were identified in Montserrado, Margibi, Bong, Nimba and Lofa counties for the 2013 PUA production. Upon the identification of the groups, MOU’s were signed with the groups to ascertain each party’s contribution to the production of vegetables. To date, 17 new groups have signed up MOUs with FED for Peri – Urban Agricultural production and soil samples were collected from 22 sites in Margibi and Montserrado counties for analysis at Boimah’s engineering soil science lab.

FED is working closely with the Liberian Ministry of Agriculture in Kakata, Margibi county to address the problem of soil erosion in the country. It is a serious problem in Liberia because of the high rainfall which causes cultivated soils to be lost to erosion thus reducing long term crop productivity.

A two- day Business Plan Mentorship workshop was held in the conference room of the Food and Enterprise Development (FED) project from November 27 – 28, bringing together 10 Liberian SMEs for the development of their business plans. The workshop was the final follow-up of the Six-Week Business Plan Mentorship program.

As part of the New Generational Women project, AEDE conducted a base line survey with 99 households in the Cooper Town community. The base line information will be used to measure the impact of a year-long cassava and vegetable project that FED is supporting in collaboration with Chevron. The baseline report will be finished by mid-December.

FED, in collaboration with MoCI, is conducting a joint outreach activity to communicate policy reform and fee standardization of the business formulization process and to introduce authorized agents in each of FED’s six counties for SMEs and agriculture producer groups. The campaign will air radio jingles in 9 dialects on 15 local county radio stations followed by six town hall meetings and the distribution of flyers detailing the formulization process and fees. The first town hall meeting was conducted in Grand Bassa County on November 28, 2012 with the participation of 180 attendees, MoCI representatives, and FED staff. The campaign will continue in Bong and Margibi counties the week of December 3, in Lofa and Nimba counties the week of December 10, and will wrap up in Montserrado on December 13.

MoCI, in collaboration with the Liberian Better Business Forum (LBBF), will host a three-day conference and trade fair to support 150-200 SMEs in February 2013. The purpose of the conference is to promote activities in the four pillars of the Micros/Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) division of MoCI: Legal and Regulatory Reforms, Access to Markets, Access to Finance, and Building Skills and Knowledge.

On November 27, 2012 the Closing ceremony for the FED Internship program was celebrated. In attendance were 58 internship students, the FED Chief of Party, Jonathan Greenham, Dr. Walter Wiles of the University of Liberia, Morris Gray of Booker Washington Institute, the president of the United Methodist University and the Internship partner from EHELD, James Mulbah. Interns were competitively selected from students attending the University of Liberia, the United Methodist University, Booker Washington Institute and the Nimba County Community College. Dr. Kimmie Weeks, Executive Director of Youth Action International gave a motivational speech highlighting his experiences leading to his success with his current organization. Certificates were issued, T-shirts given, and a celebratory lunch followed.

The Food and Enterprise Development (FED) Program for Liberia is a USAID-funded initiative that began in September 2011. Through implementing a Liberian strategy which incorporates women and youth, FED will help the government of Liberia and the country achieve food security — in terms of food availability, utilization, and accessibility — by building an indigenous incentive structure that assists a range of agricultural stakeholders to adopt commercial approaches.

This incentive structure will be built upon:

• Improved technology for productivity and profitability;
• Expanded and modernized input supply and extension systems;
• Commercial production, marketing, and processing;
• Enterprise Services; and
• Workforce Development.

FED’s activities will work with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and the private sector to link communities to agricultural inputs (including improved seeds), extension services, nutritious food products, processing services, market information, transportation, credit, and appropriate education, training, and enterprise services.

Over the life of the five-year FED program, expanded market linkages will lead to substantial income and job growth and major increases in the production, processing, marketing, and nutritional utilization of rice, cassava, vegetables, and goats in Bong, Lofa, Nimba, Grand Bassa, Montserrado, and Margibi counties. These counties are being targeted in the context of regional development corridors that foster intra- and inter-county commerce, simultaneously improving food availability and access for all Liberians.

FED’s methodology is market-led, value chain-driven, continuously dedicated to indigenous capacity building, and specifically focused on benefiting Liberia’s women and youth. FED’s approach aims to be collaborative, catalytic, and driven by the goals and objectives of our partner clients. It will lead to increases in incomes for rural households, new employment opportunities for Liberians, increased access to food and improved household dietary diversity scores for food-insecure Liberians, and the adoption of improved inputs, farming practices, and technologies which boost agricultural productivity.

FED is implemented by seven partners including: Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), Winrock International, International Fertilizer Developmental Center (IFDC), Samaritan’s Purse, Louisiana State University, The Cadmus Group, and the Center for Development and Population Activities.

Summary

In October 2012, Diosis and African rice gall midge damage were observed in Bong and Nimba counties. At the NCCC demonstration site, FED observed that insects, nutrient deficiency, and water management were the main problems. Diosis, case worm, and African rice gall midge was responsible for some of the damage done to the rice. At a few of the sites, iron toxicity and water management problems were also observed.

In Bong County, the damage of NERICA L19 at the Totota demonstration site was also caused by insects. At the Zeansue site considerable damage was done by uncontrolled weed growth. In Grand Bassa County, weed growth was a problem at the Yarmah Town site.

The updating of the input supplies interventions action plan from September to December 2012 was finalized and IFDC regional director for the Northern and West Africa Division paid a weeklong visit to the FED project. During his visit, he met with selected partners, including MoA, CARI, agro-input dealers, and rice seed producers and assured them that IFDC through FED will continue to support the integration of input supply interventions into lowland and upland rice, cassava, and vegetable value chains activities. Integration of the FED action plan into regional input supply strategies will also receive attention.

Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) training was conducted in the four main FED counties of operation (Bong, Grand Bassa, Lofa, and Nimba) and encompassed classroom sessions and visits to FED-led cassava demonstration plots. The main objectives of the classroom sessions were to interact with cassava producers and county extension workers, share knowledge, and determine knowledge gaps. About 355 cassava producers and extension officers from the MoA and FED participated in the trainings.

In Montserrado and Margibi counties, harvest continued at the FED peri-urban sites. Fifty members from the Yarnquelleh and Air town demonstration sites were instructed in the harvesting of carrots and bitter ball. During the harvest demonstration session the 50 farmers (33 men, 17 women) were taught how and when to harvest carrots and bitter ball. The training also demonstrated selection of appropriate cultivars during harvest for seed extraction.

Implementation of the Goat Pass-on Schemes began in three (Nimba, Lofa, and Bong) of the FED focus counties. Responses to public solicitation for farmers willing and able to serve as lead farmers in Goat Pass-on Schemes were evaluated, and based on extensive field site visits of short-listed candidates, twelve lead farmer associations have been selected (five in Nimba and Lofa counties, and two in Bong County) for participation in the program.

Numerators from Subah Belleh Associates underwent a three-day data collection training. Currently, the Subah Belleh Associates is conducting a stakeholder survey within the four FED major counties of operations, Bong, Nimba, Lofa, and Grand Bassa.

Three interns, including two women, also completed the training to build their skill set in project management and technology in agriculture. Participants presented on their training and created a sample electronic survey on agriculture. The training was conducted by the FED ICT specialist MTTA, and included presentations by Grameen Foundation, Episurveyor, and USAID LAUNCH.

A rapid ICT assessment was conducted on MoA’s extension system (Activity 2.3 d. MoA Extension Service Assessment and Implementation). Primary findings included 1) MoA extension forms are not standardized among counties, 2) Computer literacy is a barrier for CACs using computers to send data to MoA and 3) the newly implemented free calling/texting program has increased communication within the extension system, but not all members are aware of conference calls. Further recommendations and findings will be provided in a separate report.

A two-day capacity building training workshop for FED’s interns was held in Montserrado and Bong counties with 58 interns in attendance. The purpose of the workshop was to review progress and assess the skills and knowledge the interns have gained from their various placements. During the workshop, the following topics were covered: leadership, goal-setting, interviewing, resume and cover letter writing, agribusiness, FED value chains, project management, and service learning.

In celebration of World Food Day, held every year on October 16, FED collaborated with Child Art Liberia, a local nongovernmental organization, in a competition called “Agricultural Cooperatives—Key to Feeding the World.” Catering to 8-to 18-year-old artists from middle schools in each of FED’s six areas of operation, the competition portrayed scenes of kids and families growing food together. The contest has been held in concert with other World Food Day events and activities organized by the MoA and Liberia-based FAO chapter.

The review of the Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan (EMMP) is near completion and selected site visits were conducted at FED’s PUA unit in Yanquellie and FED’s MoA demonstration site in Margibi County. The aim was to reinforce FED’s position on best management practices for agriculture productivity. Farmers were assessed in their knowledge acquired in managing the impact of agricultural activities from ongoing trainings. From observation, while trainings in soil management techniques have been developed, they should be complemented with efforts from IFDC, and inclusive of integrated soil fertility management, which is in line with integrated pest management issues.

During the month of October, FED received the draft DQA report from L-MEP outlining the findings and recommendations on FED’s data management and reporting system. FED reviewed the findings and responded to L-MEP, copying USAID, with planned lines of action to address any areas identified as needing improvement and strengthening. FED also completed data entry into the USAID’s PIDS system covering the first year of the program. This data was matched to the Indicator Progress Table data which was included in the annual report to USAID. This process required review, verification, and cleanup of data collected earlier in the year to ensure accuracy for both PIDS and the annual report.

In preparation for year two of the program, FED revised the PMP and indicator table based on the revised year two work plan, and continued to work on revisions to the work plan, incorporating initial USAID feedback into their plans for year two.

May was a busy month for the FED team. Progress was made with training, implementation of activities in the project components, and continuing FED’s operational set-up in the counties and Monrovia.

A variety of trainings occurred throughout the month. Two hundred and seventy peri-urban Farmers (146 male and 124 female) were trained in establishing nurseries and sowing seed in nurseries. A three days Business Management Skills training workshop for SMEs and Producer groups was held in Monrovia from May 24 – 26, 2012. A total of 26 participants (9 female and 17 male) was trained. Moreover, 342 farmers (165 males and 177) from the Doumpa Community Agriculture Project also received training in lowland rice and upland vegetable farming.

AFED consultant, Matthew Curtis, conducted a soil study and analysis in the counties FED works in and developed management plans that would maintain soil organic matter content. These include the use of alley cropping, cover crops, and biochar. Swamp rice sites were evaluated for clay type and depth. An assessment was completed by STTA, Dr. Steven Lawry, DAI Manager for Land Tenure and Property Rights, on how Liberia’s land tenure arrangements might affect adoption by FED partner farmers of new agricultural practices and technologies. Of particular interest was whether or not farmers had sufficient security of tenure to merit investments that generate benefits over the longer-term.

The Market Development Fund and training activities continue to develop and expand. New partners continue to be identified across the value chains and many potential activities are currently being discussed across Components.

The FED IT Department successfully setup two field office in Nimba County. Also, at the Monrovia office, the grounding of a generator and server equipment was successfully completed.

USAID Liberia’s Food and Enterprise Development (FED) Program is being implemented to achieve the following component objectives:

• Component-1: Increase agricultural productivity and profitability, and improve human nutrition;
• Component-2: Stimulate private enterprise growth and investment; and
• Component-3: Build local technical and managerial human resources to sustain and expand the accomplishments achieved under objectives one and two.

The Food and Enterprise Development (FED) Program for Liberia is a USAID-funded initiative that began in September 2011. Through implementing a Liberian strategy which incorporates women and youth, FED will help the government of Liberia and the country achieve food security — in terms of food availability, utilization, and accessibility — by building an indigenous incentive structure that assists a range of agricultural stakeholders to adopt commercial approaches.

This incentive structure will be built upon:

• Improved technology for productivity and profitability;
• Expanded and modernized input supply and extension systems;
• Commercial production, marketing, and processing;
• Enterprise Services; and
• Workforce Development.

FED’s activities will work with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and the private sector to link communities to agricultural inputs (including improved seeds), extension services, nutritious food products, processing services, market information, transportation, credit, and appropriate education, training, and enterprise services.

Over the life of the five-year FED program, expanded market linkages will lead to substantial income and job growth and major increases in the production, processing, marketing, and nutritional utilization of rice, cassava, vegetables, and goats in Bong, Lofa, Nimba, Grand Bassa, Montserrado, and Margibi counties. These counties are being targeted in the context of regional development corridors that foster intra- and inter-county commerce, simultaneously improving food availability and access for all Liberians.

FED’s methodology is market-led, value chain-driven, continuously dedicated to indigenous capacity building, and specifically focused on benefiting Liberia’s women and youth. FED’s approach aims to be collaborative, catalytic, and driven by the goals and objectives of our partner clients. It will lead to increases in incomes for rural households, new employment opportunities for Liberians, increased access to food and improved household dietary diversity scores for food-insecure Liberians, and the adoption of improved inputs, farming practices, and technologies which boost agricultural productivity.

FED is implemented by seven partners including: Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), Winrock International, International Fertilizer Developmental Center (IFDC), Samaritan’s Purse, Louisiana University, The Cadmus Group, and the Center for Development and Population Activities.

Summary

In September, FED kicked off its annual workplanning process. A number of meetings with FED’s county offices, MoA, USAID, the private sector, and other FED partners were held to solicit feedback and begin to develop a programmatic road map for year 2. A meeting with over 60 FED partners took place on September 11, 2012 at the Corina Hotel in Mornvia. Presentations on all of FED’s components were made and break out groups focusing on each of the 4 value chains convened. Feedback from the all-day workplanning session was incorporated into FED’s draft year 2 workplan which was submitted to USAID. FED plans to finalize the year 2 workplan in the next week.

Activities are underway in Bong, Nimba, Margibi, Grand Bassa, Montserrado, and Lofa counties. This includes the monitoring of vegetables production demonstration sites at 13 locations in Margibi and Montserrado counties. Harvesting of selected crops also began in Montserrado and Margibi Counties at Kpor, Whorn, Air Town, and Yarnquelleh demonstration sites. Crops harvested include collard greens, onions, peppers, and okra. In addition, 200kg of corn seed was distributed to the 13 groups for direct planting after the current rainy season vegetable harvest.

In Nimba County, Doumpa Agriculture Project continues the weekly harvest of vegetables (bitter balls, eggplants, and cabbage) and received US$ 210.21 for September sales. Monitoring and field maintenance continue at the rice and cassava demonstration sites. Field monitoring, trainings and supervision continue at the rice and cassava demonstration sites in Lofa, Bong, and Grand Bassa Counties.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Land O’Lakes, and FED hosted a one-day National Livestock Consultative workshop on September 6, 2012, at the Corina Hotel, Sinkor, Monrovia. International partners at the event included USAID, European Union, BRAC Liberia, Samaritan Purse, FAO, CARE-Liberia, Vets without Border, German Agro Action, and IFAD among others. The objective of the technical meeting was to identify donor-funded interventions currently under implementation in the livestock sector and facilitate relationship building among participating organizations.

Treadle pump manufacturing training was conducted by FED’s Metalwork Technician in Voinjama, with two enterprises – Mdama Garage and the Sesay Metalwork Shop and manufacturing of forced-air vegetable dryers was also conducted at the Old Folk Workshop in Monrovia. These enterprises/metalwork shops will serve as producers of the new equipment and technologies that have been introduced by FED on the Liberian market for interested farmers.

Under the guidance of Peri-Urban Agriculture Specialist, Dermot Cassidy, work began in establishing a demonstration plot at the MoA training site in Kakata. This involved using a portion of land that is severely degraded and has severe soil losses due to sheet erosion.

A six-week follow-up mentorship on the Business Plan Development Workshop was completed with participants in collaboration with FED Consultant, Agatha Johnson. Fourteen SMEs from the mentorship workshop have now submitted their business plan to FED. The 14 submitted business plans are currently under review by the ED team for possible assistance utilizing the MDF. The business plan was submitted by a group head by a female, and 13 male headed groups.

A local service provider Subah Belleh has been hired to complete the profiling of approximately 900 – 1,000 stakeholders surveyed across six FED counties. The survey will start the second week in October. FED launched ten-day training to transition management of FED’s internal mobile data collection to the M&E/GIS coordinator. Three interns, including two women, have been included in the training to build their skill sets in project management and technology in agriculture. Training components include project management, budget development, training of enumerators, electronic form design, data monitoring, technology platforms, and global resources. The training is being conducted by the FED ICT specialist MTTA, and includes presentations by Grameen Foundation, Episurveyor, and USAID LAUNCH.

The Food and Enterprise Development (FED) Program for Liberia is a USAID-funded initiative that began in September 2011. Through implementing a Liberian strategy which incorporates women and youth, FED will help the government of Liberia and the country achieve food security — in terms of food availability, utilization, and accessibility — by building an indigenous incentive structure that assists a range of agricultural stakeholders to adopt commercial approaches.

This incentive structure will be built upon:

• Improved technology for productivity and profitability;
• Expanded and modernized input supply and extension systems;
• Commercial production, marketing, and processing;
• Enterprise Services; and
• Workforce Development.

FED’s activities will work with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and the private sector to link communities to agricultural inputs (including improved seeds), extension services, nutritious food products, processing services, market information, transportation, credit, and appropriate education, training, and enterprise services.

Over the life of the five-year FED program, expanded market linkages will lead to substantial income and job growth and major increases in the production, processing, marketing, and nutritional utilization of rice, cassava, vegetables, and goats in Bong, Lofa, Nimba, Grand Bassa, Montserrado, and Margibi counties. These counties are being targeted in the context of regional development corridors that foster intra- and inter-county commerce, simultaneously improving food availability and access for all Liberians.

FED’s methodology is market-led, value chain-driven, continuously dedicated to indigenous capacity building, and specifically focused on benefiting Liberia’s women and youth. FED’s approach aims to be collaborative, catalytic, and driven by the goals and objectives of our partner clients. It will lead to increases in incomes for rural households, new employment opportunities for Liberians, increased access to food and improved household dietary diversity scores for food-insecure Liberians, and the adoption of improved inputs, farming practices, and technologies which boost agricultural productivity.

FED is implemented by seven partners including: Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), Winrock International, International Fertilizer Developmental Center (IFDC), Samaritan’s Purse, Louisiana University, The Cadmus Group, and the Center for Development and Population Activities.

Summary

Activities are underway in Bong, Nimba, Margibi, Grand Bassa, Montserrado and Lofa counties. Activities in the counties mentioned above for this month began with the planning of activities for UDP, ISFM and voucher programs took place with input supply chain actors in Monrovia, Lofa, Bong, and Nimba Counties with 4 IFDC STTAs. Additionally, weekly vegetable demonstration training continues for the 13sites in Montserrado and Margibi counties, wherein seedling replacement is being carried out due to the damages caused by excessive rain after transplanting. Training was conducted by FED STTA, Matthew Curtis, for the Peri-urban team on the collection of soil samples. GPS training was also conducted by the GPS unit for the extension agents to enable them to accurately measure plot sizes and way points.

Rice demonstrations are currently ongoing in Nimba, Grand Bassa, Bong and Lofa Counties. In Nimba County, the power tiller has completed plowing 5 of the 7 lowland sites while the other 2 sites will be done manually. Transplanting is ongoing at the same time; the farmer groups have completed planting of local rice variety provided by them along with NERICA 2,and are waiting for the last variety to be planted. In Grand Bassa, transplanting has begun at one of the five lowland sites while others are clearing and plowing at the same time.

The farmers groups in Bong are plowing manually awaiting the seedlings from nursery to get ready for transplanting at all of the 5 lowland sites. In Lofa transplanting has begun at one of the 6 lowland sites while the hired power tiller is plowing. The 2 upland sites have been planted with NERICA 2 and a local variety. The second variety is to be provided by FED before planting.

A day participatory training on improved cassava varieties and planting methods was held in Bong Mine, Bong County on July 2 2012.Twenty five (25) participants from Bong, Lofa, Nimba, Grand, Bassa and Montserrado Counties participated in the training. Cassava demonstration is ongoing in a total of 22 communities (5  communities in Bong, 5 in Grand Bassa-5, 5 in Lofa and 7 in Nimba). The demonstration is carried out on a 2.0 hectare plot at each community. The project is working with 22 farming groups of 25 members each. The cassava varieties demonstrated at the sites include CARICA 1, 2, & 3, II-25, Bassa Girl and O-57.

Initial consultations have been completed for the development of a National Livestock Policy. FED Livestock Policy Specialist, David Land, arrived and spent ten days with initial discussion regarding planning for future in-depth consultancy and development of a National Livestock Policy draft for review. Ministry of Agriculture and MOA Livestock counterparts were identified and programmed for the work to begin in September and negotiations completed for finalization of purchase order to engage BRAC/NGO to begin execution of the National PPR Sheep and Goat vaccination campaign in early August 2012.

During this month, the following business management and skills trainings were conducted:

• Enterprise Development Plan Pilot training workshop for SMEs and Producer groups was held in Nimba with a total of 42 participants from 15 groups from July 5 – 6, 2012.
• Developing a Business Plan for a New Venture for SMEs in Bong County with a total of 20 participants from 17 groups from July 18-20, 2012.
• Market Research Methodology seminar was held Monrovia for SMEs on July 25, 2012 with a total of 10 participants from 10 groups.
• Trainings on improve cassava and planting methods were held in Bong, Nimba, Lofa and Grand Bassa Counties from July 2 – 23, 2012 with a total 290 participants from 30 groups.
• Training on rice was also held in Bong, Nimba, Lofa, and Grand Bassa Counties with a total of 433 participants from 19 groups.
• A Tube Well Training was conducted in Nimba with seven (7) participants from one (1) group.
• Doumpa Community Agriculture Project received a Computer Training with a total seven (7) participants from one (1) group.
• Vegetable Production training was held in Margibi County with eleven (11) participants from one (1) group.

Requests of interest of Lead Farmer Goat producers in each county were executed by radio in the counties in various dialects. Responses will serve to identify partner goat producers for the Community Goat Pass-on Scheme to begin.

On July 31, 2012, phase one of the Internship Program was launched and this activity will be carried out in phases for the duration of the FED program. For the first phase, 61 students were selected from four universities and technical schools (University of Liberia, United Methodist University, Nimba County Community College and Booker Washington Institute) from across the country. The purpose of the internship program is to create the space for senior students and recent graduates interested in agriculture to put their classroom learning into practice. Students will gain practical knowledge and experience, as well as required technical skills for marketable fields. In addition, the program will hope to provide employment and self-employment opportunities through mentorship and training at various enterprises and public institutions.

During the month of July, activities at the Doumpa Agriculture Project reached its highest peak, with the completion of transplanting of lowland rice from nurseries to the 56 plots on 2.232 ha of lowland. Currently, rice has started tailoring and the first harvest of vegetables is expected to start the first week in August 2012 and continues for the next six month.

February was an active month for the FED team, with accomplishments in the area of training, continuing organizational set up and implementation in various components of the project.

A variety of trainings occurred during the month. Farmers in the peri-urban area were trained in the usage of treadle pump and market development. Training was also conducted in vegetable production which enables farmers to advance their skills in seedling bed preparation, maintenance, planting, and irrigation. This training benefited a total of 150 individual farmers in urban and peri-urban parts of Montserrado.

A one-day training for project staff which provided them the understanding of key gender concepts and terms, gender-based constraints facing women in agriculture in Liberia, and best practices for promoting women in agriculture through LFED programming.

There was also a four day participatory Enterprise Development Training Workshop that was held for the Bonpain’s Women Group in Duompa, Nimba County. This workshop brought together 30 participants (29 women and 1 man).

FED launched on February 10, 2012 in Montserrado County, the Baseline survey to determine the current status of agricultural and livestock practices from households in the FED program’s selected regions. The M&E team conducted the survey in all four core counties.

April 2012 was a busy month for the FED team, with accomplishments made in the areas of training, continuing Fed’s operational set-up in the counties and Monrovia, and implementation of activities in various project components.

A variety of trainings occurred during the month. Three Extension Agents in the peri-urban areas were trained in crop planning, input procurement, and testing of soil water. A treadle irrigation demonstration was conducted in Nimba County and was attended by 150 farmers. FED, along with the National Cassava Sector, also led a 2 day Business Management Skills training in Monrovia for SMEs working in the cassava value chain.

Vegetable production at the Kakata field demonstration site continued during the month of April. Lettuce was harvested from the demonstration site was given free of charge to the Booker Washington Institute (BWI), The Children Future Orphanage Home and the C.H. Rennie Hospital all in Kakata, Margibi County.

The long-term Enterprise Development Specialist, Mark Nolan, joined the Monrovia FED Team on March 20, 2012. He died unexpectedly of natural causes on April 5, 2012. Upon his arrival, Mark immediately began working with a variety of famers groups, local cassava producers, and many others. He made many valuable contributions in a short period of time and the whole FED team is mourning this tragic loss.

The Market Development Fund (MDF) Acting Manager, Jessica Stretz, arrived in Monrovia for a 4 month STTA that will focus on overseeing the day-to day operations and management of the MDF. The Acting MDF Manager will meet with potential partners and collaborate with technical staff across components to ensure disbursement and management of the funds.

The FED IT Department successfully set up two field offices in Grand Bassa and Lofa counties respectively. They setup the network printer, cabled and wireless router, setup the desktop computers, and provided other support as required.

USAID Liberia’s Food and Enterprise Development (FED) Program is being implemented to achieve the following component objectives:

• Component-1: Increase agricultural productivity and profitability, and improve human nutrition;
• Component-2: Stimulate private enterprise growth and investment; and
• Component-3: Build local technical and managerial human resources to sustain and expand the accomplishments achieved under objectives one and two.

The Food and Enterprise Development (FED) Program for Liberia is a USAID-funded initiative that began in September 2011. Through implementing a Liberian strategy which incorporates women and youth, FED will help the government of Liberia and the country achieve food security — in terms of food availability, utilization, and accessibility — by building an indigenous incentive structure that assists a range of agricultural stakeholders to adopt commercial approaches.

This incentive structure will be built upon:

• Improved technology for productivity and profitability;
• Expanded and modernized input supply and extension systems;
• Commercial production, marketing, and processing;
• Enterprise Services; and
• Workforce Development.

FED’s activities will work with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and the private sector to link communities to agricultural inputs (including improved seeds), extension services, nutritious food products, processing services, market information, transportation, credit, and appropriate education, training, and enterprise services.

Over the life of the five-year FED program, expanded market linkages will lead to substantial income and job growth and major increases in the production, processing, marketing, and nutritional utilization of rice, cassava, vegetables, and goats in Bong, Lofa, Nimba, Grand Bassa, Montserrado, and Margibi counties. These counties are being targeted in the context of regional development corridors that foster intra- and inter-county commerce, simultaneously improving food availability and access for all Liberians.

FED’s methodology is market-led, value chain-driven, continuously dedicated to indigenous capacity building, and specifically focused on benefiting Liberia’s women and youth. FED’s approach aims to be collaborative, catalytic, and driven by the goals and objectives of our partner clients. It will lead to increases in incomes for rural households, new employment opportunities for Liberians, increased access to food and improved household dietary diversity scores for food-insecure Liberians, and the adoption of improved inputs, farming practices, and technologies which boost agricultural productivity.

FED is implemented by seven partners including: Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), Winrock International, International Fertilizer Developmental Center (IFDC), Samaritan’s Purse, Louisiana University, The Cadmus Group, and the Center for Development and Population Activities.

Summary

Activities are underway in Bong, Nimba, Margibi, Grand Bassa, Montserrado and Lofa counties. Activities in the counties mentioned above for this month began with the completion of planed activities for UDP, ISFM and voucher programs took place with input supply chain actors in Monrovia, Lofa, Bong, and Nimba Counties with 4 IFDC STTAs. Additionally, weekly vegetable demonstration training continues for the 1site in Montserrado County. GPS training was also conducted by the GPS unit for the extension agents to enable them to accurately measure plot sizes and way points.

In Nimba County, 175 famers at seven demonstration sites, 25 each, with 0.6 hectare of land each, have completed transplanting lowland rice. Monitoring and weeding of grass continues at each of the demonstration site.

In Lofa County, 50 farmers, 25 each at a demonstration site with 1.2 hectares of land have completed transplanting upland rice and 150 farmers, 25 each at a site with 0.6 hectare of land have completed the planting of lowland rice. Kuluka was dropped due to the challenging water control situation and was replaced by the Kormai women’s group.

In Grand Bassa County, 25 farmers with 0.6 hectare of land have started transplanting lowland rice. Gardou Town with 25 farmers has just started clearing while the other three sites with 75 farmers; 25 each have sown seeds on the nursery. By the first week in September 2012 and all remaining four sites will resume transplanting and they are expected to complete this stage by September 20, 2012.

In Bong County, one of the five sites had started transplanting of lowland rice with 25 famers working 0.6 hectare of land while the other four sites with 75 farmers; 25 each have sown seeds on the nursery. At the end of August, all of the sites will resume transplanting and are expected to be completed by the first week in September 2012.

Twenty-two lead cassava farmers participated in two-day compost training at Sangay Farm in Gbarnga, Bong County. The purpose of the training was to enhance the soil amendment and management capacity of cassava farmers. The training involved locally identifying ingredients for the compost, basics of windrow building, monitoring composting processes, and strategies for marketing and selling compost.

The harvest season for vegetables harvest for this project has started since 20th of August 2012 and for the month of August a total of L$8,715.00 was realized from the sale of vegetables and is expected to last for the four months. All crops were bought on the farm by customers that came from Sacleapea, Nimba County and Monrovia.

The Official Launching/Planning Meeting for the PPR Vaccination Campaign took place on Wednesday August 22nd. The Launching was presided over by the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), National Coordinator for Trans-boundary Disease. The NGO BRAC staff, (who are executing the campaign for the MOA and funded by USAID/FED), were present as well as Samaritan’s Purse, and USDA Land O’Lakes Project personnel. The National Plan produced in the Launching/Planning Meeting will now be vetted at the county levels with each of the County Agricultural Coordinators and County Livestock Officers for comment.

During the month of August 2012, the following trainings were conducted by all three components of the project:

• Demonstration on Safe Use of Inputs, Fertilizers and Chemicals training was conducted on August 2, 2012 in Gbarnga, Bong County with a total of 150 farmers participating.
• Cassava Production Training was held in Bong County from August 6-10, 2012 with a total 25 famers from one group participating.
• Training on Rice Production was in held Monrovia for 17 farmers from August 1 – 18, 2012.
• Vegetable Production Training was also held in Monrovia for 3 farmers from August 6 – 7, 2012.
• August 2 – 3, 2012, SME Mentorship Program training was conducted in Bong County for 17 farmers from eight groups.
• Enterprise Development Plan, Promoting Gender Sensitive training was held in Grand Bassa County for 30 farmers from 14 groups.
• A four day Technical Computer Training was held for 10 farmers at Doumpa in Nimba County from August 3 – 4, 10 – 11, 2012.

FED launched a pilot phase of its internship program on July 31, 2012 at the UL Auditorium. To date, 60 interns have signed contracts with FED and have been placed around the country with public institutions, INGOS, and farm enterprises. Eighty five percent of the interns have already begun work at 17 institutions, including FED. The 60 interns were recruited and two drop and the remaining 58 interns have been placed.

Three county offices; Nimb, Lofa and Grand Bassa will be fully equip with internet service. STTAs Ces Hipos, Sr. IT/Networking Specialist and Ana-Maria Ungureanu, IT Networking Specialist arrived on the 12th of August to set up VSet at each of the county offices for better internet connectivity with Monrovia office and STTAs completed their task on August 27, 2012. The team also set up the BWI computer lab with an internet server for the agriculture students and administration as part of FED’s contractual obligations.

Food and Enterprise Development (FED) Program for Liberia is a USAID-funded initiative that began in September 2011. Activities are undertaken to target restoring the financial self-sufficiency of farmers (particularly youth and women) through agriculture activities that will increase agricultural productivity and profitability, improve human nutrition, and stimulate private-enterprise growth and investment. Moreover, build local technical and managerial human resources to sustain and expand the accomplishments achieved under objectives one and two.

Its major project areas include: Peri Urban Agriculture, Agricultural Productivity and Profitability and Capacity Building, Business Skills and Management and Small Medium Enterprise Trainings while providing support, creating market linkages and access to loans for local farmers on the agricultural level and building local technical and managerial human resources to sustain and expand the accomplishments achieved under objectives one and two.

FED is implemented by three partners: Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), Winrock International, International Fertilizer Developmental Center (IFDC), and Samaritan’s Purse and Louisiana University who work primarily as a team.

Quarterly Summary

Activities began during this quarter from April to June 2012 in Bong, Nimba Margibi, Grand Bassa, and Lofa counties. Activities in the counties mentioned above for this quarter began with the identification of farmers’ cooperatives and associations in Lofa, Bong, and Nimba. Additionally, a series of two-day business skills training was conducted, including for the Farmer Associations in Gbarnga Bong County, and a Business Management Skills Training for SMEs in the Cassava Value Chain with the National Cassava Sector at the Royal Hotel was also held in Sinkor Monrovia. While a testing of soil water to determine available nutrients in the soil and similar training was provided to two of the rainy season vegetable groups (Mount Barclay and Cocoa factory communities).

The long-term ED Specialist, Mark Nolan, joined the Monrovia FED Team on March 20, 2012. He died unexpectedly of natural causes on April 5, 2012. Upon his arrival, Mark immediately began working with a variety of farmers groups, local cassava producers, and many others. He made many valuable contributions in a short period of time and the whole FED team continues to mourn this tragic loss.

Twenty-four lowland rice producer groups and eight upland rice producer groups have been identified – six of the formers and two of the latter in each of the priority counties. The membership of these groups totals approximately 750 producers. Each of the lowland groups possesses a lowland site that is in need of rehabilitation and has expressed interest in rehabilitating the site and expanding production over time. The expression of what FED and each group has agreed to serve as the foundation of an MOU signed by both parties.

A short-term Technical Assistant, Matthew Curtis, conducted a soil study and analysis in FED’s counties operation and he developed management plans that would maintain soil organic matter content. These include the use of alley cropping, cover crops, and biochar. Swamp rice sites were evaluated for clay type and depth. An assessment was done by STTA, Dr. Steven Lawry, DAI manager for Land Tenure and Property Rights, on how Liberia’s land tenure arrangements might affect adoption by FED partner farmers of new agricultural practices and technologies. Of particular interest was whether farmers had sufficient security of tenure to merit investments that generate benefits over the longer-term.

The Doumpa Agriculture Project is a community project that started in February 2012 with intervention from the Food and Enterprise Development (FED) Program for Liberia with funding from USAIDLiberia. Doupma is a town in Wee-Gbehyi-Mahn District, Nimba County, Liberia. Currently, the project has 342 local farmers working on the farm as volunteers willing to learn the new skills and knowledge that have been applied by the FED hire technical team and later return to their farms and transfer the knowledge gained to increase their production and profitability. Transplanting of the lowland rice (2.232 hectares) began on June 8, 2012, and increased to 25 hectares by June 30. A total of 49 plots have been transplanted with L19 out of 56 plots. Puddling and transplanting of remaining plots continue. Special mobilization has been launched to speed up the transplanting, with the goal of transplanting the entire field by July 20, 2012. The entire one hectare field is now planted with seven crops, including cabbage, hot pepper, eggplant, tomato, batter ball, cucumber, and macro cabon, through both direct and indirect planting. The crops are mainly a three-month duration, with harvest expected in September. Maintenance of the entire field is ongoing.

The FED’s IT department successfully set up three field offices in Grand Bassa, Nimba, and Lofa counties, respectively. This included set up of the network printer, cable and wireless router, desktop computers, and other support as required.

The Food and Enterprise Development (FED) Program for Liberia is a USAID-funded initiative that began in September 2011. Through implementing a Liberian strategy which incorporates women and youth, FED is helping the government of Liberia and the country achieve food security — in terms of food availability, utilization, and accessibility — by building an indigenous incentive structure that assists a range of agricultural stakeholders to adopt commercial approaches.

This incentive structure is built upon:

• Improved technology for productivity and profitability;
• Expanded and modernized input supply and extension systems;
• Commercial production, marketing, and processing;
• Enterprise Services; and
• Workforce Development.

FED works with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and the private sector to link communities to agricultural inputs (including improved seeds), extension services, nutritious food products, processing services, market information, transportation, credit, as well as appropriate education, training, and enterprise services.

Over the life of the five-year FED program, expanded market linkages will lead to substantial income and job growth along with major increases in the production, processing, marketing, and nutritional utilization of rice, cassava, vegetables, and goats in Bong, Lofa, Nimba, Grand Bassa, Montserrado, and Margibi counties. These counties are being targeted in the context of regional development corridors that foster intra- and inter-county commerce, simultaneously improving food availability and access for all Liberians.

FED’s methodology is market-led, value chain-driven, continuously dedicated to indigenous capacity building, and specifically focused on benefiting Liberia’s women and youth. FED’s approach aims to be collaborative, catalytic, and driven by the goals and objectives of our partner clients. It will lead to increased incomes for rural households, new employment opportunities for Liberians, expanded access to food and improved household dietary diversity scores for food-insecure Liberians, in addition to the adoption of improved inputs, farming practices, and technologies which boost agricultural productivity.

FED is implemented by five partners including: Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), Winrock International, International Fertilizer Developmental Center (IFDC), Louisiana State University, and The Cadmus Group.

SUMMARY

During the month of April, FED implemented many activities including: the roll out of the rice production activities, preparation of sites for Urea Deep Planting (UDP) field trials, sites selection for new generational women, assessment for component one rice team, construction of parboiling floors and goat shelters, market assessment for rice, completion and validation with stakeholders of extension materials for PUA, release of the RFP for the to conduct a national and regional cassava market study and completion of the training module for “Farming as a Business.” From April 24 to 26, the ED team supported the first annual MoCI MSME 2013 Conference and Trade Fair: “From Vision to Implementation – Buying Liberian Building Liberia”.