1. LIBERIA COUNTRY REPORT
CARD Group 2 Regional NRDS Workshop AfricaRice Center – Cotonou, Benin July 5-9, 2010 By
J.Q. Subah, M. Zinnah & S. Subah

2. BACKGROUND Liberia has a population of 3.5 million
Total land area is about 43,000 square miles
Rice is a strategic and food security crop in Liberia.
It is the staple food for most Liberians.
It is produced by 71% of the estimated 400,000 farm families, using traditional slash and burn shifting cultivation.

3. STRATEGIC PLANNING DOCUMENTS
“Policy Intent Statement” (2006): Outlined policy options for consideration.
Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy (2006): Laid foundation for rehabilitation of agriculture sector.
Comprehensive Assessment of the Agriculture Sector in Liberia (CAAS-LIB) (2007): Comprehensive assessment of the agricultural sector and identified priority programs for development.
Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) (2008): Acknowledges and articulates the country’s aspiration for achieving the UN Millennium Development Goal #1: Halving of hunger and extreme poverty by Agriculture is the engine of growth.

4. STRATEGIC PLANNING DOCUMENTS (Cont’d)
Food and Agriculture Policy Strategy (FAPS) (2008): Developed within the context of the PRS, it accentuates policies and associated strategies to harness and utilize the potentials of the large number of smallholder farmers in the agriculture sector.
Draft Liberia National Rice Development Strategy (NRDS) (March 2009): Outlines Government’s rice development strategy up to 2018.

5. STRATEGIC PLANNING DOCUMENTS (Cont’d)
Liberia Agriculture Sector Investment Project (LASIP) (2009):
Developed within the context CAADP), it identifies four major pillars for investment in the sector: (1) Food and nutrition security, (2) Competitive value chains and market linkages, (3) Institutional Capacity Development, and (4) Land and water development.
Endorsed at ECOWAS/CAADP Business Meeting in Dakar, Senegal in June 2010.

6. Rice Production Map of Liberia
LEGEND
Leading Rice Producing
Medium Rice Producing
BOMI
BONG
GRAND BASSA
GRAND CAPE MOUNT
GRAND GEDEH
GRAND KRU
LOFA
MARGIBI
MARYLAND
MONTSERRADO
NIMBA
RIVERCESS
SINOE
RIVER GEE
GBARPOLU
Guinea
Cote d'Ivoire
Sierra Leone
Unclassified
Atlantic Ocean

7. MAIN RICE ECOLOGIES
Upland ecology: Comprising about 400,000 small- holder farm families constitutes the major mode of rice production.
Lowland ecology: Mainly rain-fed; about 2% utilization; with less than 1% irrigated.

8. Production Targets (Rainfed Upland)
Year
Area
(ha)
Yield
(tons/ha)*
Production
(tons)
2009
190,000
0.9
170,000
2010
0.95
180,500
2011
2012 1
2013
2014
2015
2016
1.2
228,000
2017
2018
* Yields conservative, but expected to increase (probably double) with introduction of improved varieties and management.

9. Production Targets (Rainfed Lowland)
Year
Area
(ha)
Yield
(tons/ha)
Production
(tons)
2009
20,000
1.2
24,000
2010
1.4
30,000
2011
1.5
36,000
2012
26,000
1.6
41,000
2013
27,000
43,000
2014
28,000
47,000
2015
29,000
1.7
49,000
2016
51,000
2017
52,000
2018
32,000
54,000

10. Production Targets (Irrigated Lowland, Double Crop)
Year
Area
(ha)
Yield
(tons/ha)
Production
(tons)
2009
2,000 2
8,000
2010
5,000
2.1
21,000
2011
6,000
2.3
27,600
2012
7,000
2.5
43,750
2013
2.75
44,000
2014 3
48,000
2015
9,000
3.5
63,000
2016
2017
10,000
70,000
2018
* Yields conservative, but expected to increase with introduction of improved varieties and management.

11. Capacity Development Targets (Research Specialists)
Year
Total Required
Ph.D.
(Rice Specialist)
M.Sc.
(Rice Water Specialist)
2008 2
2009 5 1 4
2010
2011 7 6
2012
2013 10 8
2014
2015
2016
2017 12
2018
TOTAL 90 16 74

12. Capacity Development Targets (Research Assistants/Technicians)
Year
Total Required
Water Engineering Specialist (B.Sc./Assoc. Degree)
Rice Specialist (B.Sc./Assoc. Degree)
2008
2009 6 1 5
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
Total 60 10 50

13. Capacity Development Targets (Extension Workers)
Year
Total Required
Lowland Dev./Water Mgnt.
Rice Specialists
2008
2009 10 5
2010
2011
2012
2013 15
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
Total
130 50 80

14. Priority Sub-Sectors Human resource capacity development
Seed & germplasm improvement
Productivity & quality improvement
Value addition/market access
Land development, irrigation & water management
Fertilizer & other agro inputs

15. Partners
Other ministries/agencies, training & research institutions, NGOs, private sector &civil society – broad-based consensus on priority setting for the agric sector, especially rice sub-sector within the context of LASIP.
JICA - emergency rice initiative & rice data collection
USAID - seed improvement, value chain, private sector development, infrastructure & institution capacity building
EU – agribusiness, private sector development, microfinance
FAO - seed sector development & seed multiplication
GTZ - irrigation infrastructure & seed lab development
IRRI - germplasm restoration
AfricaRice Center - germplasm restoration, varietal evaluation and emergency rice initiative & capacity building
AfDB - rice value chain, seed sector development, irrigation infrastructure & capacity building
IFAD - rice value chain & seed sector development
World Bank - development of MRU regional food security program & institution capacity building
SIDA, DANIDA, UK, etc.

16. Governance & M&E of NRDS
No formal governance & M&E system is currently in place for the NRDS. Efforts are being made to put into place a formal system. Meanwhile, the following interim governance structure is currently in place:
MINISTER
National Seed Committee
Technical Task Force
Stakeholders

17. THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION!