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By Judoemue M. Kollie
Larry Attipoe, the regional supervisor for the EU—ACP Business Friendly Coffee Value Chain Project, has concluded a week-long visit to Liberia.
The visit was intended to understand the progress made for the EU-ACP Business Friendly Coffee Value Chain project in the country and to encourage the stakeholders’ continuous collaboration.
With funding from the EU, the International Trade Centre (ITC) is implementing the coffee project in the country in partnership with the Farmer Union Network of Liberia (FUNL) and other relevant stakeholders.
During his visit, Mr. Attipoe discussed with several implementing partners including the Farmer Union Network of Liberia, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI).
The discussion with the stakeholders is significant in ensuring the ITC’s Alliance for Action Approach (A4A), which seeks to bring together stakeholders to leverage opportunities that can enhance the capacity and income of farmers and agro-processors, as well as to integrate good agricultural practices and market linkages to boost local coffee industries.
The ITC Regional Coffee Supervisor also had the opportunity to meet with the EUD representative to present the project implementation plan.
During those separate meetings, Mr. Attipoe outlined the project’s many achievements and expressed the ITC’s continuous commitment to working with the Liberian government to revamp the coffee sub-sector with EU funding.
He said that the ITC is making sure to work with the implementing partners to assist the farmers with inputs and knowledge of new technologies of coffee cultivation.
Meanwhile, the Regional Coffee Project Supervisor also visited the National Coffee Mother Garden at the Central Agriculture Research Institute established by the ITC to propagate coffee seeds.
He said that he was impressed by the level of work CARI is doing to maintain the garden.
“We are impressed by the level of work to maintain this garden. It is expected that by the next few months, farmers under the program can get planting materials to established nurseries. We are very much thankful to the management,” he said.
The EU/ACP Business Friendly Coffee Value Chain was introduced in Liberia in 2021, to revamp the sector, following years of abandonment.
The project will end in December this year, however with additional funding it is now planned for the next four years. Since the program’s inception, the lives of farmers in Bong, Nimba, Lofa, Montserrado, and Bomi counties have been impacted by the project.
