Liberia - Stakeholders Brainstorm On Post-Harvest Losses Strategy Development

8 January 2024
Liberian Observer (Monrovia)
By Judoemue M. Kollie

Post-harvest losses still remain a critical challenge, affecting the productivity of many smallholder farmers in Liberia.

Though the government is making some efforts to establish infrastructure in order to address post harvest losses, smallholder farmers still struggle with the issue. This is partly due to the lack of a comprehensive strategy or policy in place to address the challenge of post harvest losses.

To tackle this challenge more effectively, a three-day regional consultation workshop was conducted in Bong, Bomi, and Grand Bassa counties. The workshop brought together over 80 participants from the 15 counties of Liberia and was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with development partners, including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), all based in Rome.

During the workshop, participants discussed post-harvest loss management issues and activities in their respective counties. They also identified priorities for the proposed strategy and discussed the development of an action plan to support its implementation.

Edward Perry, the Director for Extension Services at the Ministry of Agriculture, emphasized the importance of having a comprehensive strategy in place to manage post-harvest losses.

"Getting a comprehensive strategy in place to manage post-harvest losses for the agricultural sector is important to improving the lives of smallholder farmers. The Ministry of Agriculture is therefore working with the partners to develop the framework that will address post-harvest losses," said Edward Perry, Director for Extension Services at the Ministry of Agriculture.

Perry expressed the Ministry's commitment to working with partners to develop a framework that will effectively address this issue and improve the lives of smallholder farmers.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Agriculture requested support from the Rome-based UN agencies FAO, WFP, and IFAD to develop a national post-harvest management strategy. The facilitators of the workshop anticipate completing and validating the strategy in the first quarter of 2024.

Read the original article on Liberian Observer.

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