With urban farming’s momentum slowing over the years, especially in Monrovia and other major cities, the Community of Hope Agriculture Project (CHAP) strives to promote the practice of providing jobs and improving food security.
An initiative supported under the Emergency Rice Production Offensive (ERPO) of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), the organization has developed several sites in Monrovia and its environs with rice contributing to economic empowerment, and the greening of the City.
Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture (UPA) was relaunched by the MoA last year, nearly after 15 years when the practice was introduced in Liberia to create jobs and sustain household nutrition security, particularly for the urban poor.
Speaking to journalists on Monday, during the launch of the harvest, the Executive Director of CHAP, Bishop Robert Bimba stated that the initiative is part of an effort to fight hunger in Liberia.
“We can also fight hunger as a nation when urban agriculture is a priority. This move gives not only employment but also access to fresh and healthy food for households,” he said.
The harvest launch event which was held at the Fish Market in Sinkor, Monrovia attended by some international NGO workers, farmers, CHAP workers, and some private citizens aimed to create awareness about the importance of urban agriculture in the country.
Bimba sees the project as an agricultural revolution, a way to sensitize the residents to growing the food they eat in the cities.
“This site is very important as no one has ever done farming here after the war. It shows that we have the resilience to do agriculture,” he stated.
According to the CHAP Executive Director, they’re expected to harvest 3 metric tons of rice from the Sinkor rice field and intend to process it and place it on the local market.
He said that after this harvest they are going to again grow rice and vegetables in the dry season.
Though the harvest is overwhelming according to Bimba, but he noted that the challenges of urban agriculture still remain despite the level of recognition and support given to it in the past.
He underscored the need for the government to address the issue of waste management and encroachment on swampland for agricultural purposes by unscrupulous individuals.
Gospell Matondi, Head for Program at Welthungerhilfe (WHH) underscored the need to revigorate the urban agriculture program of Liberia by involving more of the youths.
He said urban agriculture can be used to address the unemployment situation still facing the young people of the country.
“On a site like this, we need to bring the young people to experience that food can be grown in the city. We can prioritize urban agriculture to employ the vulnerable youths of the communities,” he explained.
The Sinkor rice site was leased by a private land owner to CHAP on a free-of-charge basis.
Junior Pewee, commonly known as Master P stressed the need for people owning swampland to lease out for agricultural purposes, stating that it is the best way to contribute to food security and to keep the environment clean.
“This plot of land is owned by our family and we are delighted to give it our for farming works. I want to call on other residents to do the same as this will help to keep the city green and contribute to food availability,” he said.
Urban agriculture is the growing of crops and raising of animals in cities. It was introduced in Liberia in 2011 by the Liberian government in collaboration with international partners to create jobs for youths and women in Monrovia and other major cities.
Though greatly recognized in the past it momentum is now declining due to the drawdown of many NGOs that were supportive to the program in partnership with the MOA.
However, the new administration of the MOA relaunched the program last year but not much seemed to be accomplished.
Assistant Minister for Technical Services at the MoA, Zogbo Robert informed this reporter that her Ministry piloted the program last year with some strides made but awaiting funding to continue assistance to more farmers.
Despite the road map developed to enhance the practice of urban and peri-urban agriculture, challenges such as limited extension services, lack of inputs, and storage and processing facilities continue to bring setbacks for the practice.
CHAP anticipates that with more support and improvement in coordination mechanisms by bringing together different actors or stakeholders, they can continue to work with more farmers in the next few years.
By Judoemue M. Kollie
