Liberia

Liberia Agribusiness Development Activity

Overview:

In Liberia, CNFA implemented the $19.3 million Feed the Future Liberia Agribusiness Development Activity (LADA) (2015-2020), funded by USAID. LADA aimed to increase incomes of smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs throughout Liberia to expand access to and use of agricultural inputs, improve post-harvest handling activities and streamline high-potential agricultural value chains.

Program Approach:

1. Linking Markets Through Private Sector Engagement: LADA used a results-driven and sustainability approach to increase private sector investment in agricultural input systems, post-harvest handling, transport and processing activities and to strengthen the market environment with information, advocacy and support.
2. Training and Capacity Building: LADA established 24 different aggregation clusters across the country to select appropriate agribusinesses, sustainable and transparent cooperatives and established agrodealers to provide specialized trainings and certifications.
3. Financial Management: LADA managed a credit guarantee facility to catalyze the extension of credit to agrodealers by supply companies and financial institutions to mitigate the high risk associated with agricultural lending. Another financial tool, the Agribusiness Investment Network (AIN), was established and is housed with LADA’s local sub-implementer, Business Start-Up Center (BSC) Monrovia in order to provide a platform through which agricultural and agribusiness agents, NGOs and financial institutions can interact.
4. Increasing Access to Market Information and Digital Financial Services: Enclude, a CNFA partner, explored the development of a digital financial services product portfolio, delivery channels and risk management mechanisms for LADA. This technology allows smallholders to make better-informed decisions for production, processing and marketing processes through value chain gap analyses.
5. Youth, Gender and Social Capital: LADA targeted youth in the project’s agrodealer development interventions and linked smallholder farming youth groups to aggregators and buyers. CNFA also employed a full-time Gender Specialist who mapped gender roles and decision-making power within the targeted value chains, ascertained gender roles and examined issues related to women’s time, workloads, access to information and control over resources.

Partners:

1. Enclude
2. Business Start-Up Center Monrovia’s network
3. The Global Cold Chain Alliance