MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR IN LIBERIA (CAAS-Lib) Volume 1 - Synthesis Report Liberia 2007 CAAS-Lib Synthesis Report Volume I FOREWORD Since January 2006, the Government of Liberia has been committed to consolidating peace and accelerating the country's economic recovery. An Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy (IPRS), which elaborates the overarching national priorities of peace and security, economic revitalization, rehabilitation of infrastructure, delivery of basic services, and the rule of law and governance, will be replaced in 2008 by a full Poverty Reduction Strategy. The agriculture sector is expected to contribute meaningfully to the priorities of poverty reduction, food security, employment, increased personal income, and foreign exchange. Unfortunately, the contribution of agriculture to national economic growth and development has been limited over recent years by structural constraints, inadequate policies and civil conflict. To facilitate development of the food and agriculture sector and to assess the role and contributions of the sector in meeting both urgent and longer term expectations during the process of recovery and development, Government decided to review the sector. The review was performed to provide much needed reliable information and analysis of the status, potential, constraints and opportunities of the sector. This information was intended to inform decisions on policy, strategies, programmes and activities in the sector. The Comprehensive Assessment of the Agriculture Sector of Liberia (CAAS-Lib) project, which was led by the Ministry of Agriculture, had support from FAO, the World Bank and IFAD, and the collaboration of national agencies and other interested parties. A National Steering Committee established for the purpose provided policy guidance and advice. The Assessment process utilized an extensive mix of national and international expertise from a wide range of sector disciplines, and applied scientific, consultative and participatory tools to generate and analyse information and data from the sector. The Assessment Team travelled throughout the country to carry out a broad consultation exercise. They discussed issues, findings and options with stakeholders in both rural and urban areas, including those in public and private sector institutions and other organizations. The findings from the field studies and other data generating activities were discussed at Regional Workshops in the country to broaden and deepen the scope of consultations and participation in the Assessment, and at the same time to strengthen national ownership and sustainability of the outcomes. A National Workshop was held on 28–29 May 2007 with participation from public and private institutions, farmer groups, civil society organizations and development partners; the presence of Cabinet Ministers and Parliamentarians was significant, as was the high quality of contributions from all participants. The event provided a valuable opportunity to stakeholders, who freely and openly discussed and exchanged views and experiences on policies, strategies and options for development and growth of the sector. The Workshop also validated the overall Assessment Report and recommendations, and emphasized a framework of actions to follow the Assessment. The final Synthesis Report has passed a rigorous consultation process and will provide a valuable source of information, data and analysis to assist stakeholders in the revitalization of iiiiii CAAS-Lib Synthesis Report Volume I the agriculture sector. The report is presented in two volumes – the first is a Synthesis Report and the second volume contains various sub-sector studies. The findings and recommendations from the assessment have strengthened our resolve to move with utmost speed and determination to take advantage of the opportunities that are outlined in the report, and especially to encourage our partners to support us in the ensuing action plan for agricultural growth and prosperity. I take this opportunity to express my appreciation to FAO, the World Bank and IFAD for their unstinting technical and financial support in ensuring that the assessment process was concluded successfully. Indeed a new dawn of evidence-based decision making and action in the agriculture sector has emerged in the country. I invite everyone to assist Liberia to move in that direction. Christopher Toe Minister for Agriculture Republic of Liberia iivv CAAS-Lib Synthesis Report Volume I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report has been prepared and financed jointly by the Government of Liberia (GoL), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). FAO would like to acknowledge gratefully the substantial funding received from the FAO-Norway partnership programme, which covered the costs of several components of the project, including the overall technical coordination of the project, international and national consultants, and the preparation of the seven sub-sector analyses and the final report. The World Bank supported two key sub-sector reports and the cross-cutting issue of gender, and contributed to various stakeholder meetings and the final review. IFAD contributed to the critical analytical work on the linkage between agriculture and food security, and to consultations. The process benefited from regional consultations and a national validation workshop in May 2007, which had substantial stakeholder participation that provided a valuable contribution to the analysis and recommendations. A joint World Bank–FAO–IFAD–GoL peer review also took place, during which experts reviewed the Synthesis Document and made constructive suggestions for its improvement. The project benefited from the dynamic leadership, guidance and contributions from the Honourable Minister for Agriculture Christopher Toe, who was the Chairperson of the project steering committee, and received support and key inputs from all the Deputy Ministers and officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of Liberia. The steering committee members, international and national experts, project managers and the technical and support staff of FAO, the World Bank and IFAD contributed to the success of this effort. Dr Dunstan Spencer, the team leader, and Dr Othello Brandy, his national counterpart, lent their unstinted efforts to coordinating the work and providing technical contributions towards the completion of this project. The support team is gratefully acknowledged, particularly Ms Agnes Perkins of FAO, Monrovia, and Ms Laura Battista and Ms Ana Maria Galvan of TCAS, FAO, who bore the brunt of recruitment and other logistic issues. The latter two are also acknowledged for their patient editing and secretarial support throughout the project period. vv CAAS-Lib Synthesis Report Volume I vvii CAAS-Lib Synthesis Report Volume I TABLE OF CONTENTS C C FOREWORD.........................................................................................................................III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................................................................................V ACRONYMS...........................................................................................................................X EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.................................................................................................XV I. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................1 A. Background..............................................................................................................1 B. Objectives and Approach.........................................................................................3 C. Outline of the Report...............................................................................................7 II. THE LIBERIAN STATE AND ECONOMY................................................................8 D. Historical Perspective..............................................................................................8 E. Livelihood and Well-being of Liberia’s Rural Population....................................11 F. The Government’s Efforts to Support Economic Recovery..................................16 III. THE FOUNDATIONS FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT.......................17 G. Climate and Water Resources................................................................................17 H. Land and Soil Resources........................................................................................20 I. Land Tenure...........................................................................................................23 J. Climate Change, Agriculture and the Environment...............................................26 K. Rural Infrastructure................................................................................................28 L. Liberian Farming Systems.....................................................................................31 M. Food Crop Value Chains........................................................................................36 N. Tree Crop Production.............................................................................................46 O. Fisheries.................................................................................................................48 P. Livestock Production.............................................................................................52 IV. THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK IN AGRICULTURE...............................54 Q. Agricultural Input and Output Marketing..............................................................54 R. Export (Tree) Crop Marketing...............................................................................62 S. Rural Financial Intermediation..............................................................................65 T. The Ministry of Agriculture...................................................................................69 U. Public Expenditure and Agriculture.......................................................................75 V. The Agricultural Research System........................................................................75 W. Agricultural Education...........................................................................................78 X. NGOs and Community Based Organizations........................................................81 V. MOVING TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT – POLICY CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES...............................................................................................82 Y. Contemporary Evidence of Agricultural Growth and the Poor.............................82 Z. Operationalizing a pro-poor approach: Transformation – not just Recovery – of the Agricultural Sector...........................................................................................84 AA. Private and Public Sector Roles in the Provision of Agricultural Services...........86 BB. Making the Government Budget Work for Agricultural Development.................87 CC. Food Production, Food Security, Safety Nets and Nutrition.................................89 vviiii