Food and Enterprise Development Program for Liberia: Quarterly Report October - December 2013

The program operates in five components: increasing agricultural productivity and profitability, stimulating private sector growth and investment, building local technical and managerial human resource capability, cross-cutting activities, and management and operations. Component One focuses on increasing agricultural productivity and profitability through value chain development. Task 1A aims to increase productivity and profitability of the rice value chain, while Task 1B targets the cassava value chain. Task 1C focuses on the goat value chain, and Task 1D targets the vegetable value chain. Subtask 1.1 involves special studies and the development of a Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) data collection system, while Subtask 1.2 improves access to agricultural inputs, and Subtask 1.3 provides agricultural extension support. Component Two stimulates private sector growth and investment by creating an enabling policy environment. Task 2 focuses on access to credit and business development services. Component Three builds local technical and managerial human resource capability by developing existing vocational centers into centers of excellence. Task 3.0 involves developing vocational centers, while Subtask 3.1 establishes enterprise service centers. Component Four encompasses cross-cutting activities, including gender, youth, nutrition, coordination with partners, environmental compliance, monitoring and evaluation, communications and knowledge management. Component Five focuses on management and operations. During the October-December 2013 quarter, FED achieved several milestones. In the rice value chain, UDP plots yielded up to 7.4 MT per hectare, while broadcast plots yielded an estimated 6.1 MT per hectare. In the cassava value chain, FED farmers harvested an average of 12.5 tons per hectare, while non-FED farmers harvested an average of 8.5 tons per hectare. In the goat value chain, FED farmers reported an average of 2.5 kids per doe, while non-FED farmers reported an average of 1.5 kids per doe. FED also supported the development of water management infrastructure, with 1,500 participants trained in FY14. The program facilitated the recruitment of 1,200 rice farmers, 1,000 cassava farmers, 500 goat farmers, and 500 peri-urban agriculture (PUA) farmers. FED also disbursed LEAD loans to 26 groups, with a total value of $150,000. The program's quarterly report highlights the achievements of FED in the October-December 2013 quarter. The report includes tables and figures that provide detailed information on the program's progress, including yield estimates, production and sales data, farmer recruitment, and loan disbursements. The report also includes lessons learned and best practices from the program's activities.