LADA Recommendations to USAID on Value Chain Focus

The initiative must provide recommendations to USAID on which value chains to prioritize for the implementation of the activity. This presentation focuses on job creation and investment promotion potential, rather than conducting a comprehensive study on all Liberian value chains. The analysis conducted by a team of experts involved objective and subjective criteria to identify key areas of focus for LADA. The objective criteria included market growth, international and national market competition, job creation potential, self-sustainability, proven concept, import substitution, consumption trends, and food security. The subjective criteria included likelihood of success, priority of the Government of Liberia, farmer skill suitability, impact per intervention dollar, and cross-cutting transportation. The LADA consultant team, consisting of Benjamin Ryan and Mwenda Albert Kazadi, has extensive experience in agriculture value chain finance, private equity and investment promotion, commodities sector/trading, and access to finance/SME lending. The team analyzed 20 subsectors, considering objective criteria such as product markets, unmet demand, growth potential, market trends, and competitiveness. Subjective criteria included competitive factors, roles of and distribution of benefits to various actors, and bottlenecks to sub-sector expansion. The value chain assessment rationale involved scoring potential LADA value chains based on the objective and subjective criteria. The scoring criteria included market growth, international and national market competition, job creation potential, self-sustainability, proven concept, import substitution, consumption trends, food security, likelihood of success, priority of the Government of Liberia, farmer skill suitability, impact per intervention dollar, and cross-cutting transportation. The LADA-Recommended Agricultural Value Chains include rice, cassava, aquaculture, cocoa, vegetables, poultry, maize (animal feed), oil palm, rubber, livestock, coffee, and all others. The value chains were prioritized based on their potential to create jobs and promote investment. The high-priority value chains include rice, cassava, and aquaculture, while medium-priority value chains include cocoa, vegetables, and poultry. The low-priority value chains include maize (animal feed), oil palm, rubber, livestock, coffee, and all others. The LADA consultant team analyzed 20 subsectors and identified 8 recommended value chains. The methodology involved a comparative analysis of USAID and national priorities, analysis of market potential, and analysis of job-creation potential. The team considered objective and subjective criteria to identify key areas of focus for LADA and provide recommendations to USAID on which value chains to prioritize for the implementation of the activity. The value chain is defined as the full range of activities required to bring a raw product through different phases (production to delivery) to final customers. Value chain actors include farmers, traders, processors, transporters, wholesalers, retailers, and final consumers. The LADA consultant team's recommendations aim to identify and prioritize value chains that have the greatest potential to create jobs and promote investment in Liberia's agricultural sector.