Empowering local actors for sustainable seed production in Liberia: EU-funded project and national partners hand over seeds and agri-machines to seed enterprises

^{Beneficiaries of the seeds and agri-machines posed along with project implementing partners. (Photo Credit: George A. Harris, AfricaRice-Liberia Station)}

Post-war Liberia’s seed certification process is one demonstration of the West African country’s commitment to food sufficiency and robust agri-economic growth – thanks to the EU-funded Seeds4Liberia Project. From strengthening national institutions' capacities to empowering private seed enterprises to produce high-quality seeds – rice, cassava, coffee, soybeans, and fish.

Recently, the project and its national partners, including the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), the Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI), the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA), the Seed Development and Certification Agency (SDCA), and the Liberia Agricultural Commodity Regulatory Authority (LACRA), handed over seeds/seedlings and agri-equipment to local seed companies from Bong, Lofa, Margibi, Montserrado, and Nimba counties.

Musu Nana of the Sua-Yelle Multipurpose Cooperative, a recipient cooperative, said a major challenge has been access to agri-machines to upscale their production. But with the arrival of power tillers, lowland and upland rice seeders, rice reapers among others, upscaling production is certain for the Sua-Yelle Multipurpose Cooperative.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, the Project National Coordinator/AfricaRice Country Representative to Liberia, Moustapha Gaye, stated that the items distributed were also part of the project deliverables to ensure sustainable and high-quality seed production.

“This activity reflects the project's efforts to strengthen the production capacity of local seed producers, ensuring access to high-quality seeds that boost food and nutrition security and increase profits for farmers and seed producers”.

The EU-funded project handed over seeds and machines, including power tillers, lowland and upland rice seeders, rice reapers, hermetic cocoons with ECOWAS monitoring systems, hermetic bags, catfish fry, tilapia fry, mixer machines for fish feed production, a feed pellet mill, hapa net, sechi disks, a scale, foundation seeds, and cuttings.

The event brought together actors from rice, cassava, coffee, soybean and fish sectors. (Photo Credit: George A. Harris, AfricaRice-Liberia Station)

The European Union Delegation to Liberia, also represented by its Agriculture Program Officer, Antonio Di Clemente, thanked all implementing partners of the project and reaffirmed his institution's support to national development frameworks like the National Agriculture Development Plan (NADP).

Also, reacting to the event, the Assistant Minister of Planning and Development at the Ministry of Agriculture, Hon. Francis Mulbah, described the handover program as evidence of the Liberian Government ensuring a trusted environment for development partners to support the nation’s quest to food sufficiency.

“The first step toward feeding ourselves is to put vibrant seed systems into place, and this is a giant step toward that vision. This is also happening because the Government of Liberia has created an enabling and trusted environment for partners to come and support the Government in this direction,” Said Mulbah.

The Minister furthered that vibrant seed systems not only enhance productivity but also profitability for seed producers and farmers. He also thanked the European Union and project implementing partners for their support and urged recipients of the seeds and machines to use them for the purpose intended.

Post-war Liberia has seen informal and unregulated seed systems that have been a major hurdle for food and nutrition security and agri-economic growth. With the EU-funded Seeds4Liberia initiative, new methodologies and approaches to improve the country’s seed sector have surfaced and are presented as a trusted model to emulate in transforming the country's seed systems to enhance productivity and economic growth.

The EU-funded Seeds4Liberia Project is jointly implemented by Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and WorldFish in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), the Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI), the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA), the Seed Development and Certification Agency (SDCA), and the Liberia Agricultural Commodity Regulatory Authority (LACRA).