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Liberia: African Development Bank Group approves $5.12 million financing for Emergency Food Production Program

The Board of directors of the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org)has approved financing for the Emergency Food Production Program in Liberia(http://bit.ly/3gu1AM3). This paves the way for the government to support farmers as they increase climate resilient food production and mitigate the impact of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The funding includes a grant of $2.28million and a loan of $2.84million from the Bank Group's Transition Support Facility.

Agriculture is a major part of Liberia's economy. It contributes about 26% to GDP. The country's major crops are rubber, rice, cassava, bananas and palm oil, with cassava and rice being the primary staple food crops.

Overall agricultural productivity, however, is low. This is because of such factors as weak basic infrastructure, including farm equipment and inadequate farm-to-market roads. There is also limited application of fertilizers and pesticides, and inadequate food storage capacity. The civil conflict the country experienced between 1989 and 2003 and the Ebola outbreak of 2014-2015 compounded challenges even further.

Nearly 50% of Liberia's population is considered food insecure, and childhood malnutrition is persistent. Currently, 35% of children under 5 are stunted and 15% of these children are underweight.

The food production program in Liberia is part of sector budget support under the African Development Bank's African Emergency Food Production Facility (AEFPF) (http://bit.ly/3wGWi3O). This facility is designed to increase climate resilient food production for Africa's farmers in the wake of such global shocks as the war in Ukraine and rising fuel and fertilizer prices.

The African Emergency Food Production Facility will provide 20million African smallholder farmers with certified seeds. It will increase access to agricultural fertilizers and enable them to rapidly produce 38million tons of food – a $12billion increase in food production in just two years.

The Liberia program–which will be implemented from 2022 to 2024–will enable the government to provide direct smart subsidies (that create incentives for private sector investment in the inputs market without distorting the market), to vulnerable farmers. The financing will also enable the government to facilitate farmers' access to improved seeds and fertilizers.

"We welcome this timely and highly awaited approval, which will improve food and nutrition security in Liberia and the regulatory environment for climate-smart agriculture," said the African Development Bank' country manager for Liberia, Benedict Kanu. He added: "With healthy Liberians being arguably the greatest asset the country can have, hardly any other priority could be more pressing than addressing food insecurity to safeguard the calorie and nutrition needs of Liberians and protecting their human development."

The African Emergency Food Production Facility has already benefitted 26 countries in Africa with 26 programs worth $1.257billion.


Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

Media contact:
Amba Mpoke-Bigg
Communication and External Relations Department
media@afdb.org

Technical contact:
Mark Eghan
Principal Agricultural Economist

About the African Development Bank Group:
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is Africa's premier development finance institution. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF). On the ground in 44 African countries with an external office in Japan, the AfDB contributes to the economic development and the social progress of its 54 regional member states. For more information: www.AfDB.org

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