The World Bank has approved US$ 10.5 million funding support to the Government of Liberia (GOL) through the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) for its COVID-19 Food Security, Nutrition and Livelihood Plan.
Upon a recent request from the GOL, the funding was drawn from the Contingency Emergency Response Component (CERC) within the World Bank’s funded Smallholder Agriculture Transformation and Agribusiness Revitalization Project (STAR-P) which kicked off in 2019 and is directed and supervised by the MoA.
Liberia’s COVID-19 Food Security, Nutrition and Livelihood Plan –as formulated by the MoA in March –aims to mitigate Coronavirus’ threats and impacts on Liberia’s food security and livelihood; and targets vulnerable low income families and local farmers.
The MoA, through the Program Management Unit (PMU), will manage the CERC funding with support from the STAR-P in partnership and collaboration with farmers’ groups, agro processors and cooperatives to support the plan’s implementation.
At the end of the project’s implementation, 100,000 metric tons of staple foods would be produced that will drop the country’s food import reliance by 15% and have a strategic food reserves for the first time in Liberia.
An estimated 100 small and growing processing businesses will be built, and 50 cooperatives and farming communities empowered. About 5,000 jobs will be created and another 30,000 supported in agriculture and agro-allied industries.
