The Informer (Monrovia)
Jefferson Massah
11 September 2009
As part of efforts to stamp out hunger in keeping with the first aim of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Millennium Village Project (MVP) in Kokoyah statutory district, Bong County, has begun producing the country's staple food, rice.
The MVP has introduced a new variety of rice to farmers in the region that takes three months to mature for harvest, and this has brought smiles to many farmers, describing the development as a booster to food production.
The Kokoyah project was selected as Liberia's first Millennium Village Project, which aims at integrating the interventions needed to achieve the MDGs at the village level.
The project provides a basis for scaling up and integrating best practices in the areas of agriculture, education, nutrition, health, water and the environment.
Speaking at the first harvest of the rice at a demonstration plot established in Kokoyah, the project manager of the MVP Steven Kolee disclosed that the New Rice for Africa (NERICA rice) - a combination of African and Asian rice - was obtained from the West African Rice Development Association (WARDA) in Cotonou, Benin.
Obtained under a partnership arrangement, the rice will be distributed to farmers, with the aim of increasing farmers' productivity, and to further help eliminate hunger in rural communities.
During the next farming season, more than 130 metric tons of the new rice would distributed to individual household farmers in three sub-districts of Kokoyah, Kolee, the Millennium Village Manager said.
The distribution of the fast-growing and high-yielding rice will now provide the opportunity for the farmers to even farm twice a year, especially low land or swamp farmers.
Mr. Kolee further disclosed that as part efforts to transfer new agriculture knowledge and best practices to farmers that are to benefit from the program, more than 100 master-farmers are being trained to new methods of planting, with technical assistance from a rice research technician, Bah Saidu, of the Africa Rice Center in Cotonou, Benin.
The master-farmers will in return serve as trainers in the various farming communities, and will closely work with the MVP in developing a farmer registry in the region in order to have a proper information system about farmers benefiting from the program. This will also serve as the basis to determine the level of support an individual farmer will need in terms of seeds and tools allocations.
The project manager also indicated that a seed storage bank will also be constructed to store seeds that will be acquired through a seed revolving system to be developed.
He said seed from storage bank will be distributed among farmers who will not benefit from the first distribution, and the process will continue until every farmer has enough to grow and eat - to feed beyond their communities.
Mr. Kolee maintained that the agriculture project will also venture in the areas of vegetable production, animal husbandry and fishery, but the first focus is to have more food, especially rice, which is the staple of many Liberians, before shifting to other areas that will provide economic empowerment for the farmers.
Apart from the agriculture program, the MVP also has interventions in the areas of health, education, and water and sanitation (WATSAN).
Under the health component of the project, two modern clinics are expected to be constructed in two populated communities of Kokoyah, in line with the Ministry of Health's plan.
The two health facilities will have running water systems and electricity. An ambulance will also be procured under the project to be stationed in the region to swiftly respond to emergency referrals.
The education aspect of the project has already kickoff with the construction of one community school in Gbai's town. Rehabilitation of existing schools and training of the teacher are all part of the educational package, while the WATSAN aspect involves the construction and rehabilitation of several hand pumps in the three sub-districts.
The project manager also informed told The Informer that a modern police station will also be constructed in the district headquarters of Botota, to enhance the work of the police in its fight against crime, and for the restoration of rule of law in the area.
The project which also supports almost all four pillars of the government's initiated Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) is been managed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), with the involvement of the various line Ministries' staff in the areas of intervention.
Liberia's PRS articulates the Government's overall vision and major strategies for moving toward rapid, inclusive and sustainable growth and development during the period 2008-2011.
The PRS is being implemented between April 1, 2008 and June 30, 2011 (the end of the 2010/2011 fiscal year).
This period is of critical importance as Liberia shifts from post-conflict stabilization to laying the foundation for inclusive and sustainable growth, poverty reduction, and progressing toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the 14-chapter and 188-page PRS document states.
The donor-dependent US$1.6bn program is crafted with four major pillars including Enhancing Peace and National Security (Pillar), Governance and the Rule of Law (Pillar II), Economic Revitalization (Pillar III) and Rehabilitation of Infrastructures and Delivery of Basic Social Services (Pillar IV).
Meanwhile, the MVP, expected to run for a period of five years, is currently funded by a US$5.4 million grant from the Norwegian Government.
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