--本文原刊载于环球网（Huanqiu.com）“西非漫谈”栏目

链接：https://opinion.huanqiu.com/article/46XmpJ3eAX5

（作者：电子科技大学西非研究中心团队，执笔人：Bruce Emmanuel，译者：宋和（西非研究中心助理）【西非漫谈】2022年第二期，总第五十一期。整理：张海琳、孟雅琪，供稿：赵蜀蓉)

1.0.INTRODUCTION  of AGRICULTURAL SECTOR IN LIBERIAN

The country Liberia is located in West Africa with over 5.058 million (World Bank, 2020). Liberia is bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire; Monrovia as their Capital City. Agriculture is considered the mainstay of the economy in Liberia and its contribution helps in poverty reduction (Ministry of Agriculture, Liberia. 2007). Agriculture generates employment and raises income of farmers whiles reducing food prices. Hence a transformative tool for poverty reduction. The agricultural sector has employed 60% of the active population and contributed 31% to the GDP of Liberia in 2020. The major crops in the sector are cassava, oil palm, rubber, rice and cocoa. In addition, the weather and the fertile land in Liberia are good for crop production, especially cocoa production.

Source: http://www.goodfoodworld.com

2.0. CROPS IN LIBERIA

2.1. Rubber Production

Rubber Production in Liberia counted for 13.5% of total export in 2020. There are commercial and private rubber farms in Liberia have employed more people hence reducing the unemployment rate in the country. There have been 22,000 people employed in commercial rubber production whiles 38,000 households are involved in the production. Currently, the Firestone Natural Rubber concession which is one of the natural rubber productions operates in Liberia and has employed the largest number of people, reducing unemployment rate and reduction of poverty reduction. However, the rubber plantation in Liberia has declined due to the low world price market. Consequently, Liberia’s rubber production is facing challenges such as price reduction, thus affecting the supply to the main suppliers and causing unemployment in the sector due to limited production. It was reported that about 2,000 full-time and contractual workers were laid off in the year 2018 (Carter, 1968).

Table 1 Agriculture Export Statistics (Million USD) 2018-2020

Source: Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), 2020 Annual Report, Page 49

2.2. Palm Oil

Palm is one of the cash crops in Liberia even though most farmers engage in cassava production. The palm oil production in Liberia’s contribution to the economy cannot be underestimated though it’s not that much. The producers are currently facing challenges due to Covid-19 restrictions (Tarway-Twalla, 2013). The declining state of the production (22,465 metric tons to 22,200 metric tons) has affected the overall output in the country limiting the export. Additionally, the limited market for oil production is a concern for most farmers in Liberia, making them shift their attention to other crops, particularly cassava. Today, the stakeholders in that sector such as large multinational-owned corporations and smallholder farmer cooperatives, individual farmers are in talking with the Ministry of Agriculture (in charge of the agriculture sector in Liberia) to invest in the industry and support the small farmers (International Trade Administration, 2021). Table 1 below depicts the key agriculture & forestry sector output in Liberia.

Table 2: Key Agriculture Sector Output, 2018-2020

Source: Central Bank of Liberia (CBL), 2020 Annual Report, Page 32

2.3. Rice

Rice and vegetables occupy about 87% of the cultivated land. Another staple crop that is mostly grown In Liberia is rice. It is grown in the upland regions of the country by smallholder farmers. Rice is grown once a year in Liberia and primary staple food of most of Liberia's 3.5 million people. However, the production of rice is low due to limited financial and technological supports. However, the annual per capital consumption of rice (133 Kg per year) in Liberia, which is the highest in Africa. The country imports rice (consumption) from China and the USA. The Government of Liberia has recently boosted the production of rice through investment and foreign partners. The production of domestic is key to the development of the economy in the sense that, rice production increase direct access to foods for the Liberians, food security and poverty reduction. Additionally, the Liberian Government has initiated a policy called The Liberian National Rice Development Strategy (LNRDS) to enhance rice production in the country and to ensure food security through lowland rain-fed and lowland irrigation projects (Ministry of Agriculture, 2012).

Source: https://institute.global/advisory/different-approach-strengthening-african-food-systems

3.0 AGRICULTURAL POLICIES IN LIBERIA

To support the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of achieving poverty reduction and extreme poverty, the Government of Liberia in 2008, implemented Food and Agriculture Policy and Strategy (FAPS) to support the smallholders of the agriculture sector. Added to the above, the Liberia Agriculture Sector Investment Program (LASIP) was initiated in 2010 to transform Liberian agriculture within the context of Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) for 2010-2015. The LASIP has four main pillars:

· Food and nutrition security;

· Competitive value chains and market linkages;

· Institutional Development and Land and water development;

· Rice gains significance in all the policies and strategies.

Furthermore, the Government program of Comprehensive Assessment of the Agricultural Sector in Liberia (CAAS-Lib) seeks to provide an appropriate strategic policy with the development partners in order to maximize and support the agriculture sector. The program overall objectives of CAAS-Lib:

· Carry out a comprehensive assessment of the agricultural sector and food security situation in the country. The exercise will generate appropriate information on the status, potential and constraints of the sector in order to facilitate decisions on the direction, methodology and scope of actions for the sector to contribute to the national priorities of food security and nutrition, productivity, investment, income and employment.

· Generate information for the formulation of an Agriculture and Food Security Strategy Framework in conjunction with the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS).

· Generate information to prepare a Comprehensive Policy for the agriculture sector.

Source: www.worldbank.org

4.0 CHALLENGES IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

The agricultural sector in Liberia is one of the sectors that was hugely affected during the internal conflict. During that time, farmland, water resources were mismanaged and affected. The production of foods and overall productivity became low generating extreme poverty. Today, the technological input in the agriculture sector is very low affecting productivity.

Moreover, modern-day cultivation methods are not applied or used by the farmers in Liberia. For instance, fertilizers usage is limited among Liberian farmers. Other quality farm inputs are lacking in the agricultural sectors. Additionally, the infrastructure development that needs to support or facilitate the movement of agricultural products is very poor and makes it difficult for farmers to produce in a larger quantity. On the other hand, the poor road networks and high transport costs limit the movement of agricultural products.

Poor land ownership records deter farming. Land ownership is a big problem in Liberia and most of the land-owners lack record-keeping hindering them to cultivate in larger crop production. The Government of Liberia policy prevents foreigners to own land. However, this policy doesn’t favor the locals as they lack the resources to develop land for cultivation. Further, there are limited market channels for agricultural products making it difficult to motivate producers (small farmers) in the sector.

To sum up, the Ministry of Agriculture with support from international partners is making an enormous effort to invest in the agricultural sector to eradicate poverty. Also, the government should start rebuilding the national research and development (R&D) system to strengthen demand for services, improve quality of service and ensure system sustainability and carry out land reforms that will allow for longer-term planning, use and investments, and enhance demand for land as a productive asset. Finally, the government should be effective and have efficient capacities to plan implement and monitor programs that sustain natural resources, mitigate producer risks and mainstream gender and youth.

5.0 AGRICULTURAL SECTOR IN THE MIDST COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the agricultural sector all over the world.  The Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Agriculture came out with agrifood policies and measures to respond to the effects of the crisis. Some of the policies affected the movement of the agricultural product/food from the producers to the consumers. Policies and measures implemented during the pandemic are outlined below.

· The Government set out a USD 25 million plan for the affect counties and distributed foods to households and provided free electricity and water support.

· Through the Minister of Finance and Development Planning and the Minister of Agriculture, collateral guarantee agreement was signed with the Afriland Bank to provide agricultural loans to smallholder rice farmers to process for the domestic market during covid-19.

· The Ministry of Agriculture monitored the market prices of basic agricultural products in order not for the citizens to pay higher prices with supports from the European Union-Liberia Agriculture Programme – Prosperous Agriculture Roadmap to Nutrition and Entrepreneurship, Reinforcing Sustainability (EULAP-PARTNERS) Programme (FAO, 2020).

· Liberia’s Executive Committee on Coronavirus (ECOC), and the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) launched an agriculture transport permit system, the Movement and Control Service (MOCO) to assist farmers, food producers, processors and sellers use mobile phone-enabled platform to obtain cross-county passes for transporting their food products during the lockdown.

References：

[1]Abrafi Foh N.Y, Fanny M & Said J (2020). Food Supply Chains Are Holding Up in Advanced Countries. Retrieved 31 Dec, 2021 from https://institute.global/advisory/different-approach-strengthening-african-food-systems

[2]Carter, G. M. (1968). Growth without Development: An Economic Survey of Liberia. Robert W. Clower, George Dalton, Mitchell Harwitz, A. A. Walters. Economic Development and Cultural Change, 17(1), 132–136. https://doi.org/10.1086/450342

[3]Fair Labor Worldwide (2011). Rubber Production in Liberia: An Exploratory Assessment of Living and Working Conditions, with Special Attention to Forced Labor. Accessed at https://www.verite.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Research-on-Working-Conditions-in-the-Liberia-Rubber-Sector__9.16.pdf

[4]Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation (2020). National agrifood systems and COVID-19 in Liberia Effects, policy responses and long-term implications. Retrieved from https://www.fao.org/3/cb2114en/CB2114EN.pdf.

[5]International Trade Administration (2020). Liberia - Country Commercial Guide: Agricultural Sectors. Accessed on 31 Dec 2021 at   https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/liberia-agricultural-sectors

[6]Ministry of Agriculture (2012).  National Rice Development Strategy of Liberia Doubling Rice Production. Retrieved from https://riceforafrica.net/downloads/NRDS/LNRDS.pdf

[7]Ministry of Agriculture (Republic of Liberia Monrovia, Liberia. Food and Agriculture Policy and Strategy “From Subsistence to Sufficiency”. Retrieved 31 Dec 2021, from https://www.moci.gov.lr/doc/Food%20and%20Agriculture%20Policy%20and%20Strategy.pdf

[8]Patel, Nitesh (June 2013). "Liberia Comprehensive Food Security and Nutrition Survey (CFSNS) June, 2013". Accessed at www.moaliberia.org. Liberian Ministry of Agriculture on 31 Dec 2021.

[9]Nicholas Parkinson (2013). The Revival of the Grain Coast: Organic Farming in Liberia. Retrieved at http://www.goodfoodworld.com/2013/10/the-revival-of-the-grain-coast-organic-farming-in-liberia/.

]10]World Bank, (2017). Comprehensive Assessment of the Agriculture Sector in Liberia: Volume 1, Synthesis Report. Accessed at https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/7677

[11]World Bank (2016). West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program. Retrieved on 31 Dec, 2021 from https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/agriculture/brief/the-west-africa-agricultural-productivity-program