Liberia Information Brief Hectares of Rice
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Agriculture sector response cont’d Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations For the rice planting season 2012 alone, households that have been reached to agriculture sector partners distributed date). approximately 331 tons of improved seeds – enough to cultivate slightly over 5,000 FAO played a dual role, acting as the Liberia Information Brief hectares of rice. coordinator of the agriculture sector on the one side, and implementing its own food Added together, the Emergency Humani- security programmes, funded by CERF, the tarian Appeal 2011 and the Consolidated Appeal Process 2012 identified 125,000 EU and USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster people (Ivorian refugees and Liberian Assistance. Focusing its interventions on Agriculture Sector Response to hosts) as vulnerable and in need of assis- areas that were not covered by NGOs, tance, but due to funding shortfalls not FAO’s emergency programme has been Ivorian Refugee Influx 2011/2012 even half of the needs could be covered targeting 14,600 households since the on- (see table below for a break-down of set of the crisis. Monrovia, Liberia October 2012 Outlook and future challenges A proportion of the refugee population to reduce vulnerabilities to potential will continue to stay in Liberia in 2013, food price shocks and erratic rainfall and some will settle down perma- patterns and other adverse climatic nently. This will require communities effects and enhance food security to produce more food locally. In this sustainably. Strengthening extension context, the expansion and intensifica- services by the Ministry of Agriculture, tion of rice cultivation will be essential, improving storage and post-harvest i.e. through effective irrigation and handling and market linkages will also other water-control structures, so as be key. Number of vulnerable farmers targeted by agriculture sector emergency projects in 2011/2012 (as of October 2012) Nimba Grand Gedeh River Gee Maryland Totals Total 25,110 18,671 1,175 9,197 54,153 Of which … … Vegetable/tuber 6,095 6,312 200 5,062 17,669 … Rice 18,504 11,462 800 1,740 32,506 … Livestock/fisheries 30 240 - 1,143 1,413 … Other* 481 657 175 1,252 2,565 Of which … … male 12,555 9,939 539 4,169 27,202 … female** 12,555 8,732 636 5,028 26,951 Of which … … Ivorian refugees 6,784 8,811 443 2,483 18,521 … Liberian hosts 18,326 9,860 732 6,714 35,632 * The category 'other' includes project interventions that did not target one specific food crop, but a mixture of tubers, rice and vegetables. For Details on the work of FAO, please contact Mr. Jean-Alexandre Scaglia, FAO ** Gender-disaggregated data was only collected since September 2011. Since then, 50 % of all targeted Representative in Liberia. E-mail: [email protected]; Tel. +231-776737524 households in Nimba were female-headed, 42 % in Grand Gedeh, 62 % in River Gee and in 68 % in Maryland. For the purpose of this table, it was assumed that beneficiary figures from before September 2011 show the same breakdown between male- and female-headed households. Poverty rates are as high as 76.7 % and most refugee-affected communities are far households spend up to 74 % of their away from central markets, requiring income on food. The high market people to spend a lot of their money on dependence makes poor people extremely transportation. vulnerable to price shocks. Moreover, The state of agricultural in the affected counties Most households are in one way or the other engaged in subsistence agriculture, through vegetable gardening, rice farm- ing or cassava cultivation. Agricultural productivity is low, with rice yields being as low as 1,170 kg per hectare. Lack of tools, seeds and farm labour, as well as pest are the most commonly cited bottle- necks in agriculture in Liberia. Irrigation FAO-supported vegetable farm infrastructure is almost non-existent; farmers depend on rainfall, making them Background increasingly vulnerable to erratic rainfall patterns and other climate-change- he massive influx of Ivorian resilience and food production systems of induced adverse weather conditions. Not T refugees in 2010/11 into Liberia had the affected communities. In Grand Gedeh even 10 % of farmers use improved huge implications on food security in the - currently the county with the highest seed varieties that would result in higher affected counties of Nimba, Grand Gedeh, number of refugees - refugees make up yields. In many parts along the border, FAO-supported cassava farm River Gee and Maryland. The majority of 20 % of the population. Since the arrival illegal activities (i.e. illicit mining and During the rest of the year (the hunger refugees settled along the border, of the refugees, the limited local food logging) attract young men, drawing season), households need cash to scattering over roughly 250 host commu- stocks need to be shared among a signifi- them away from more sustainable purchase food on markets. If cash is not nities. Only a minority decided to join one cantly higher population. agricultural activities. available, they reduce consumption or of the six (now four) refugee camps. The refugee influx occurred in a Low agricultural productivity means need to borrow food or money from Today still, around half of the roughly region of Liberia that has been food that households can rely on their own neighbours, friends or others. 65,000 refugees are with host insecure already prior to the crisis. For production only during a part of the year. communities. example, 82.5 % of all people in River Most of the host communities are Gee, and 72.6 % of all people in Maryland Agriculture sector response isolated, difficult to access especially show poor or borderline food consumption In support of efforts by the Government and county levels. A two-pronged approach during the rainy season, and encircled by patterns. These rates are among the high- of Liberia, FAO has been bringing together was taken: emergency, short-term thick rain forests. The thickness of the est in Liberia. Moreover, food markets in NGOs to ensure a coordinated response assistance to refugees to improve their rainforests makes agricultural activities the region are among the most expensive by agriculture sector partners. The agri- immediate food and livelihood security and very labour-intensive, since new farmland in Liberia. In July 2012, Zwedruh, the culture sector worked complementary to recovery assistance to host families, with needs to be cleared from dense bushes capital of Grand Gedeh (the county with the food sector that coordinated food aid more emphasis on training, extension sup- and thick logs (slash & burn agriculture). the largest number of refugees), was the distributions. port, value-addition and market linkages. Poor households lack sufficient manpower most expensive market for rice in Liberia, The objective of the agriculture Agriculture sector partners and FAO and machines, and can therefore not culti- having recorded a price increase of 34 % sector is to improve food and nutrition provided assistance mostly in the form of vate enough land for food production. with respect to July 2011. security of vulnerable female- and free distributions of improved varieties of Given the low population density in Poverty is wide-spread in the male-headed households affected by the seeds and tools, coupled with extensive the region, the refugee influx affected counties. Ivorian crisis, and to strengthen food secu- capacity-building support to improve represented a huge external shock to the rity coordination mechanisms at central production techniques. .