The European Union-funded Liberian Food Safety Initiative, is organizing a three-day stakeholders’ engagement workshop ahead of its launch.
The project focuses on selected national private sector actors from along the fish, rice, cocoa, coffee, and cassava value chains.
The project aims to boost trade in and safe consumption of locally-produced food by enhancing food safety practices and compliance across selected value chains, including rice, cassava, cocoa, coffee, and fish.
It employs a comprehensive range of food safety-related interventions at the legislative regulatory, institutional, and enterprise and consumer levels.
The workshop, facilitated by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) under the EU-funded Liberian Food Safety Initiative Project, is expected to present the findings of the draft food safety-focused value chain mapping and assessment report on the selected value chains to stakeholders.
The workshop will also review the selected value chain maps, which cover input services, production, processing, marketing, consumption, service providers, and the interlinkages within each segment of the value chain.
Participants are expected to analyze each value chain with a specific focus on food safety, assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) in the context of Liberia.
They are expected to provide clear recommendations to address food safety gaps from production to consumption in an inclusive, sustainable and holistic manner by the end of the workshop.
The workshop which is ongoing at the Liberian Chamber of Commerce in Monrovia runs from October 22-24, 2024.
During the opening of the workshop, Assistant Minister for Commerce and Industry, H. Uriah Bryant, thanked the EU and UNIDO for the initiative, noting that industrialization is new to Liberia, particularly in the area of food safety.
He stated that while Liberia has seen growth in its GDP due to efforts to balance trade, more needs to be done to achieve significant progress.
“For any country to make significant progress, it must achieve a balance in trade, considering imports, exports, and remittances,” he added.
Assistant Minister Bryant pointed out that in the past, little had been done to promote exports or the consumption of locally produced goods, with the country relying heavily on remittances and imports.
He emphasized that Liberia currently produces about 50% of its own food, but key challenges remain, which UNIDO and the EU are committed to addressing.
He further noted that while Liberia is moving toward food industrialization, the country still lacks the necessary infrastructure.
“Our country is lagging behind, and we are grateful to our partners, especially in the area of food production,” he said.
He highlighted the importance of food safety, stating, “Life depends on what we consume. We may live longer or shorter depending on the quality of our food.”
Assistant Minister Bryant expressed gratitude for the EU and UNIDO project, which aims to improve food safety and value addition in key value chains such as rice, cassava, fish, coffee and cocoa.
Also speaking during the opening, the President of the Agriculture Rice Federation of Liberia and CEO/Founder of the Agriculture and Infrastructure Company based in Foya District, Lofa County, Mohammed Kamara, praised the initiative and emphasized the need for better regulation in the country.
He called for increased collaboration between members of the Rice Federation and the project organizers to ensure food safety from producers to consumers.
