week-long National Rice Development Strategy workshop to enhance and sustain the production of rice in Liberia ended over the weekend at the Ministry of Agriculture(MOA). The workshop brought together various stakeholders in the Agriculture sector and was facilitated by two Experts from the Coalition for African Rice Development-(CARD).

The workshop objective was to deliberate and develop concept papers on the intervention topics as aline Liberia Agriculture sector and investment programs LASIP and the NRDS. At the end of the workshop, five concepts were developed covering the Enhancement of Post -harvest Technology, Development of Irrigation to improve Rice production, improved seed production and distribution, facilitation of access to financial services for rice value chain and enhance extension and technical advisory services.

The emphasis was particularly placed on lowland potential areas in Liberia, including Nimba, River Cess, Grand Bassa, Maryland, Lofa Grand Gedeh, River Gee and Grand Kru as the way forward to improve food production in Liberia, especially in those area. The participants have agreed on the preparation of promotional materials to demonstrate the relevance of the concept as regards to government priorities.

They also agreed on continuous donor commitment to support agriculture programs and projects.

At the same time, the participants agreed on the achievement of the Maputo Declaration which targets 10% of national budget devoted to agriculture.

Meanwhile, Participants at the workshop came from the Central Agriculture Research (CARI) Institute, USAID, Food and Enterprise Development (FED) BRANCO,ODAFARA, FAO, Green Star, CRS, and the University of Liberia College of Agriculture and Forestry amongst others.