Document Type: Project Design and Implementation

INTRODUCTION

COCOA DEFORESTATION AND CLIMATE CHALLENGES

Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire together produce two-thirds of the world’s cocoa. Cocoa plays a critically important role in the local and national economies, providing jobs, improved livelihoods and social welfare, expanded tax base, family and corporate income, and foreign exchange earnings growth. However, the long-term viability of cocoa farming is at risk in many parts of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire due to climate change^[1], , and for many years smallholder cocoa has been the leading agricultural commodity driving deforestation in both countries. This deforestation increases greenhouse gas emissions and has a negative impact on biodiversity, soil fertility, water quality and quantity, affects local rainfall, and threatens farmer livelihoods. In response, the governments of both countries and commodity buyers have made specific commitments to reduce and eliminate deforestation from their supply chains through the creation of initiatives such as the Cocoa and Forests Initiative (CFI) and the Ghana Cocoa Forest REDD+ Programme (GCFRP) that will sell carbon credits to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility.

Declining productivity of cocoa farms represents an additional challenge facing the West African cocoa sector. In Ghana, up to 40 percent of cocoa farms have low productivity and the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) has estimated that 700,000 ha of cocoa farms need to be replanted. There are several challenges to large-scale farm rehabilitation. Farmers and communities lack the funding, labor resources, and technical know-how to replant old trees using best practices to rehabilitate old cocoa farms to be higher yielding and more resilient. Many farmers also have insecure land tenure arrangements that prevent or discourage them from replanting old farms and need help to improve tenure security. 

PREVIOUS WORK

From October 2016 – January 2018, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded a pilot through the Tenure and Global Climate Change (TGCC) program to identify challenges and solutions to improving cocoa sustainability in Ghana. The pilot project was carried out with private sector partners Ecom Agroindustrial Corp. (ECOM) and the Hershey Company (Hershey). The work included extensive background research, consultation, and a field pilot in Nyame Nnae community in Asankrangwa, Wassa Amenfi West (see Figure 1) to demonstrate how to address several challenges including improving land tenure, tree tenure, and financing cocoa rehabilitation to improve cocoa productivity, which would ultimately hope to reduce pressure to expand production into remaining forests.^[2]

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[1] Predicting the Impacts of Climate Change on the Cocoa-Growing Regions of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire (2011), International Center for Tropical Agriculture.

[2] For more detail see Improving Tenure Security to Support Sustainable Cocoa – Final Report & Lessons Learned. A longer summary and link to the final report can be found here: https://www.land-links.org/document/tgcc-ghana-final-report-and-lessons-learned-improving-tenure-security-to-support-sustainable-cocoa/. Additional documentation produced by the project is available here: https://www.land-links.org/project/ghana-tenure-global-climate-change/

USAID/Liberia contracted Tetra Tech as the Prime Contractor to implement the Land Governance Support Activity (LGSA) Task Order under the Strengthening Tenure and Resource Rights (STARR) Indefinite Duration Indefinite Quantity Contract. LGSA supports the establishment of more effective land governance systems, ready to implement comprehensive reforms to improve equitable access to land and security of tenure, so as to facilitate inclusive sustained growth and development, ensure peace and security, and provide sustainable management of the environment. Tetra Tech and partners Landesa, CDR Associates (CDR), Sustainable Development Institute (SDI), and Parley form a collaborative team providing technical and organizational assistance to the Government of Liberia (GOL), civil society, and communities in their land rights reform process.

The year three project work plan presented here summarizes proposed project activities to meet the objectives of the four project components: Component 1: Strengthen policy, legal, and regulatory framework for land governance; Component 2: Improve human and institutional capacity for land governance; Component 3: Conduct action research supporting land rights policy; and Component 4: Strengthen civil society, private sector, and citizen engagement in land governance. As gender is a crosscutting issue, all project activities will implement a gender responsive approach.

The year three project efforts focus on specific pivotal activities necessary to achieve the previously mentioned components, which include but are not limited to: mentoring and providing assistance to the Liberia Land Authority (LLA) in its development of Land Surveyors, Land Survey, and Land Valuation regulations, finalizing a Land Dispute Resolution Policy, and submitting a Spatial Data Infrastructure Policy, among others; the operationalization of the Liberia Land Authority and its Transition Committee, which will focus on assisting its work to integrate government functions, staff, records, and facilities into the LLA, along with finalizing spatial data standards and a legal framework that feeds into a land information system; conducting the nine-step process for the recognition of customary land rights in seven pilot communities along with beginning work in another seven to 14; and implementing a nationwide awareness campaign on pertinent topics including the criminal conveyance of land, the functionality of the LLA, and rights availed under the Land Rights Act.

The majority of LGSA’s year three work plan does not rely upon the passage of the Land Rights Bill; however, LGSA has identified a few activities that will either not take place, be implemented at a reduced threshold, or redirected, as follows:

• Support to the draft Regulations on the Sale, Lease, and Concessions of Public and Government Land will become support for the Revised Guidelines and Procedures for the Sale of Public Land.
• LGSA’s work in pilot communities will still occur, as it is necessary to field test the methodology for the recognition of customary land and guide the LLA to ensure its process is inclusive of women, youth, and minorities; however, instead of implementing in 21 communities, it will field test in 14. Additional work in pilot areas will not move beyond those 14 communities until the Land Rights Bill becomes law.
• LGSA plans on implementing a major grant that raises awareness on customary land rights and provide sufficient notification to register Tribal Certificates, once the Land Rights Bill becomes law. Without the law, LGSA will redirect awareness efforts toward the functionality of the LLA and women’s land tenure and inheritance rights.

To build on previous investments in the forestry and agricultural sectors, particularly the Land Rights and Community Forestry Program (2007-2011) and the Liberia Forestry Support Program (2011-2012), USAID contracted Tetra Tech ARD in May 2012 to implement a new, five-year program (2012-2017) entitled People, Rules and Organizations Supporting the Protection of Ecosystem Resources (PROSPER). The overall goal of the program is to introduce, operationalize, and refine appropriate models for community management of forest resources for local self-governance and enterprise development in targeted areas of the country. The three primary objectives of the program are:

1. Expand educational and institutional capacity to improve environmental awareness, natural resource management, biodiversity conservation, and environmental compliance;
2. Improve community-based forest management leading to more sustainable practices and reduced threats to biodiversity in target areas;
3. Enhance community-based livelihoods derived from sustainable forest-based and agriculture-based enterprises in target areas.

To implement PROSPER Tetra Tech ARD has assembled a consortium composed of Liberian and international partners with distinct skill sets and extensive experience in Liberia. Working with and through stakeholder partners (including educational institutions, government agencies, civil society organizations, private sector partners, community-based organizations, communities, and other donor programs), at all levels of implementation (i.e., national, landscape, and community), PROSPER is designed to improve human, legal, regulatory and institutional capacities in environmental awareness and wise stewardship of natural resources with the aim of extending community-based forest management as well as community-based forestry and agricultural enterprise development throughout Liberia.

At the national level PROSPER builds institutional capacity to support community forestry through close coordination and technical support to the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) and curriculum development assistance to the Forestry Training Institute (FTI). The program helps to inform and improve policies concerning natural resource management, land tenure and property rights and the environment, by creating opportunities for communities and practitioners to share their experiences with national-level decision-making actors. To increase environmental awareness, PROSPER builds the capacity of government and civil society organizations to design and conduct effective public outreach campaigns, and is assisting the Ministry of Education to strengthen primary formal curriculum through the integration of appropriate environmental themes and the development of instructional materials. This year, particular efforts will be made to support the development of the CFWG as a rights forum by providing planning and training activities related to outreach campaigns, and designing monitoring systems and standard operating procedures to implement the CRL. Curriculum developed in Year 1 for primary schools will be finalized, printed and provided to the Ministry of Education for use in Liberia’s primary schools and FTI’s community forestry curriculum will be rolled out with continued support from the PROSPER program.

At the landscape and community levels, PROSPER works with communities, local government and other stakeholders in northern Nimba County at three sites (Zor, Gba, and Bleih community forests) that were established under LRCFP. During Year 1, PROSPER extended its work in northern Nimba to a fourth site (Sehyi). PROSPER is currently facilitating a process that would allow the proposed Sehyi community forestlands to be integrated into the existing Gba community forest management agreement (CFMA), and the governance bodies restructured to ensure equitable representation of both communities. During Year 1, PROSPER added an additional landscape in southern Nimba County (Tappita District, Big Gio Forest) comprising four sites and two landscapes in Grand Bassa representing an additional two sites. In Year 2, PROSPER will support the two Grand Bassa sites and two of the four local communities in the Tappita District (Gblor-Gbeah and Kparblee) to develop forest governance institutions, adopt more sustainable management practices, and diversify livelihood options through the creation of forest-based enterprises. In the other two proposed Tappita District CF sites (Boe-Quilla and Sehzuplay), the discovery of extensive, unauthorized settlements in the Big Gio Forest areas initially targeted for management as community forests, presents obstacles to successful CF establishment. The situation in the Sehzuplay clan area is further complicated by the disclosure of a deed that may convey agricultural development rights to the community.

During Year 2, PROSPER will work with the FDA and the concerned communities to raise awareness concerning forest and land use management and offer support for livelihood diversification in an effort to slow forest degradation and to establish a buffer zone for the more intact forests on the eastern side of Big Gio Forest. The deed will be verified to determine the scope of community rights, and PROSPER will facilitate discussions between the FDA and the communities on the western side of the BGF to determine whether the community should proceed toward authorized community forestry status, or merely classify their forest area as a community forest. Both approaches will require land use planning efforts, but the processes will be somewhat different and will require on-going support from PROSPER and FDA. In Year 2, PROSPER will pursue efforts to promote the development of sustainable agriculture- and forest-based livelihoods and enterprises that represent viable alternatives to activities that currently drive deforestation in PROSPER’s work zones. Building on lessons from Year 1, PROSPER will expand its strategically-targeted technical assistance to Griffonia entrepreneurs and cassava processing groups to improve the viability of their operations. PROSPER will refocus Component 3 resources on the promotion of cocoa farm rehabilitation and oil palm processing – activities that present better economic opportunities in the current market for residents of forest communities. Initial interventions will aim at revitalizing non-productive tree crop small holdings, providing their owners with alternatives to shifting cultivation.

PROSPER’s Results Framework (Annex 1) is based on the causal and logical linkages between proposed activities (inputs), performance indicators (outputs, outcomes, and impacts), program objectives, sub-intermediate results, PROSPER’s goal, and higher-level USAID/Liberia Intermediate Result 2.2, “Natural Resources Managed Sustainably” and Development Objective 2, “Sustained, Market-Driven, Economic Growth to Reduce Poverty.” In line with USAID/Liberia programming, PROSPER will contribute to multiple technical areas. The outcomes and results achieved under Objective 1 will contribute to USAID’s Education Development Objective. Objective 3 will contribute to Intermediate Result 2.1.2, “Agricultural Sector Growth Supported,” under USAID/Liberia’s Economic Growth Development Objective. Lastly, Objective 2 will contribute to USAID/Liberia’s Democracy and Governance Development Objective.

Annual Work Plan – FY 2014

The present Annual Work Plan document provides a succinct narrative description and timelines for the set of interrelated activities identified by the PROSPER team as necessary to achieve the contractual results, outcomes, and deliverables of the program during Fiscal Year 2014 (October 1, 2013-September 30, 2014). This period corresponds to the second full fiscal year of the program (launched in May 2012), which we will refer to it as Year 2.

The PROSPER Annual Work Plan is a contract deliverable which provides USAID with information on proposed activities and accomplishments and a tool for monitoring expected progress towards achieving program results. The Plan serves the PROSPER implementation team as a comprehensive guide and calendar that facilitates the efficient allocation and management of program assets and resources. It is a living document, however, that will be revised as needed during the year, in consultation with USAID, to allow the program to take advantage of new insights and opportunities, as well as to find solutions to obstacles that may arise.

While many of the Year 2 activities presented in this document build directly on processes launched and results achieved during the first year of implementation, the FY14 work plan also includes a number of strategic reorientations. These changes – some driven by evolutions in the larger socio-political and economic context of Liberia’s forestry sector, and others by ongoing analysis and reflections by USAID and the PROSPER team on ‘what is working and what is not’ – are described in the “Strategic Adaptations” section of each of the three components.

The present document is the fruit of a collective effort by PROSPER staff, implementing partners, USAID representatives, and key Government of Liberia counterparts to identify, prioritize, define, and schedule the main activities required in FY 2014 across all three PROSPER program components. The preparation of this year’s work plan involved three major steps: 1) a retreat for PROSPER staff (August 19-21) to review execution of the FY13 work plan, analyze lessons learned, and identify priorities for FY14; 2) a formal work planning workshop organized in Monrovia from September 4-6 involving PROSPER staff, implementing partners, Government of Liberia counterparts, and community representatives, resulting in the production of a detailed first-draft work plan; 3) a series of consultative meetings (week of September 16-20) between USAID and senior PROSPER technical team to review and discuss the draft work plan and clarify questions concerning proposed activities and implementation strategies.

Three documents – PROSPER’s Statement of Work, Deliverables Schedule, and Performance Monitoring Plan – served as the principal references for the work planning effort. PROSPER’s Component heads prepared the technical sections of the work plan under the direction of the Deputy Chief of Party. The work plan takes into account a number of guiding principles and practical considerations emphasized by participants during the PROSPER technical retreat and work planning workshop including: working with and through Liberian institutions to build capacity and sustainability; systematic documentation of processes modeled, training conducted, and lessons learned; more realistic scheduling to take into account the time required to build community awareness, consensus, and commitment on complex and sensitive matters; managing expectations of partner communities with regard to livelihood component activities in particular. As noted in the sections that follow, Year 2 will also be marked by efforts to intensify activity monitoring, with particular emphasis on institutional capacity building, environmental impacts, and effectiveness of outreach and awareness-raising.

This PROSPER gender integration plan builds on the strategies proposed in the PROSPER gender assessment conducted in July 2012, and details concrete gender-related activities to undertake during Year 1 of PROSPER (FY 2013). The gender integration plan addresses the following:

• Monitoring gender under PROSPER
• Gender-related activities, outcomes, and a suggested timeline that build on PROSPER’s Year 1 work plan
• Suggested actions for gender interventions at new field sites taking into account village profile activities.

Tetra Tech has a full-time Gender Integration Officer (GIO) to support gender integration throughout the PROSPER program. The gender assessment and gender integration plan are meant to assist the GIO to define her work plan and activities. But they can be used by technical staff in all three program components (education/outreach, community forestry, livelihoods) to support gender integration. PROSPER will be able to integrate gender only if all technical staff take responsibility for implementation of the gender assessment and plan.

PROSPER is a five-year program (2012-2017) that builds on USAID investments in the forestry and agricultural sectors to introduce, operationalize, and refine appropriate models for community management of forest resources in target areas of Liberia. The project aims to:

1. Expand educational awareness and institutional capacity to improve environmental awareness, natural resource management, biodiversity
   conservation, and environmental compliance;
2. Improve community-based forest management leading to more sustainable practices and reduced threats to biodiversity in target areas;
3. Enhance community-based livelihoods derived from sustainable forest-based and agriculture-based enterprises in target areas.

Working with project partners (including communities, educational institutions, government agencies, civil society organizations, private sector partners, community-based organizations, and other donor programs) at all levels of implementation, PROSPER is designed to improve environmental awareness and wise stewardship of natural resources, extending community-based forest management and agricultural enterprise development throughout Liberia.

Pursuant to these goals, PROSPER implemented the first year of an outreach and awareness campaign called “Make Community Forest Rights Real” in 2013. This report provides an overview of:

1. The process and approach used to design and implement the outreach and awareness the campaign;
2. Campaign goals, objectives, and activities; and
3. Community and project stakeholder reactions, responses, and feedback on Year 1 of the campaign gleaned from campaign “Lessons Learned Consultations”.

The stakeholder feedback that was provided on Year 1 of the campaign will be used to improve and re-plan the campaign for Year 2.

To build on previous investments in the forestry and agricultural sectors, USAID contracted Tetra Tech ARD in May 2012 to implement a new, five-year program (2012-2017) entitled People, Rules and Organizations Supporting the Protection of Ecosystem Resources (PROSPER). The overall goal of the program is to introduce, operationalize, and refine appropriate models for community management of forest resources for local self-governance and enterprise development in targeted areas of the country. The three primary objectives of the program are:

1. Expand educational and institutional capacity to improve environmental awareness, natural resource management, biodiversity conservation, and environmental compliance;
2. Improve community-based forest management leading to more sustainable practices and reduced threats to biodiversity in target areas;
3. Enhance community-based livelihoods derived from sustainable forest-based and agriculture-based enterprises in target areas.

One of the key activities identified to support attainment of Objective 1 was the following:

Activity 1.2: Collaboratively support the development of outreach campaigns to increase public awareness of natural resource and environmental management issues

The Tetra Tech ARD/PROSPER scope of work notes that: The successful management of Liberia’s natural resources depends not only on government agencies and communities directly responsible for their management, but also on an educated citizenry that can make informed decisions about the use and management of these resources by government agencies, the private sector, and communities.

To contribute to the building of an informed citizenry, the scope of work (SOW) calls for Tetra Tech ARD to do the following in Year 1:

• Work with stakeholders, specifically the members of the Community Forestry Working Group which includes the FDA and a number of CSOs active in the forestry and NRM policy sectors, to build their capacity to develop effective outreach campaigns to communicate information that will lead to changes in the way citizens think about and make decision about their natural resources.
• By Month 3 of implementation, support a Community Forestry Working Group (CFWG) meeting to solicit ideas and themes for the first outreach campaign. This support will include a workshop at which CFWG representatives, government agencies (e.g., EPA and LC), CSOs, and members of private sector will present lessons learned from their own outreach campaign efforts and experiences developing non-formal education materials.
• Launch an outreach campaign beginning in Month 6 of implementation that will target PROSPER sites for four months.

The launching of the first outreach campaign to improve public awareness of natural resource and environmental management issues is listed as a Contract Deliverable (no. 28). Although Tetra Tech ARD reported regularly on the preparation and successful implementation of the first annual outreach campaign in its monthly, quarterly, and annual reports from Year 1 (FY 2013), and has submitted two other reports focused on Outreach Products Developed (Deliverable 11) and Public Outreach and Awareness Building Approaches Field Tested (Deliverable 5), USAID requires a separate report formally substantiating the launching of the first annual campaign.

The present report is submitted in fulfillment of that requirement for Deliverable 28. It provides complementary documentation not provided in the reports cited above concerning the execution of the first outreach campaign from May to July 2013 including: 1) copies of the program agendas, list of speakers, and participant lists from the three regional launching ceremonies organized in Tappita (May 24), Sanniquellie (May 29) and Buchanan (June 8); 2) Calendars and itineraries of the rollout campaigns conducted in southern and northern Nimba counties and Grand Bassa County in June and July 2013, and 3) Photos from both the launching ceremonies and rollout phase.

SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN

The first annual outreach campaign on community forestry entailed high-profile launch ceremonies in southern Nimba County (Tappita), northern Nimba County (Sanniquellie) and in Grand Bassa County (Buchanan), respectively. These ceremonies brought together an array of dignitaries from agencies of the Government of Liberia, representatives of CSOs at local and national levels, community leaders, local authorities, youth groups, the media and other stakeholders associated with the forestry sector. It was designed to impact key target audiences in PROSPER sites and other stakeholders that influence how their community forests are managed.

The launching ceremonies took place in Tappita on May 24; in Sanniquellie on May 29; and in Buchanan on June 8, 2013. Activities included: a) keynote addresses; b) speeches from selected experts, county authorities, local leaders and community representatives highlighting important community forest technical management and governance issues; c) live drama and cultural performances focused on forest management by the Liberia Crusaders for Peace troupe; d) a float parade; and e)  distribution of informational materials on community forestry. The activities surrounding the launching ceremonies were amplified in all three zones by local radio stations which PROSPER contracted to prepare an interactive pre-launch informational broadcast, to cover the ceremonies, and to do a 30-minute feature program on the outreach campaign, including interviews with key participants.

The launch of the campaign was followed by a roll-out of activities in the major towns and villages of PROSPER’s ten sites in June and July 2013. The rollout included music, cultural and drama performances, projection of video, competitions to test skills knowledge related to community forestry, and the distribution of printed materials including copies of Community Rights Law and Regulations, and t-shirts. Theatre troupes within the communities were also mentored through this process by the professional theatre troupe (Liberia Crusaders for Peace) contracted for the outreach campaign so that they will be able to continue spreading the campaign messages throughout the PROSPER communities.

The USAID Food and Enterprise Development (FED) Program for Liberia is a USAID-funded development program that was launched in September 2011. USAID FED uses an all-inclusive strategy incorporating micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) farmers, processors, suppliers, women, and youth while partnering with the government of Liberia and local civil societies to achieve food security.

The goal of USAID FED is to increase food availability, utilization, and accessibility by building an indigenous incentive structure that assists agricultural stakeholders in adopting commercial approaches.

This incentive structure is built upon:

• Improved technology for productivity and profitability
• Expanded and modernized input supply and extension systems
• Commercial production, marketing, and processing
• Enterprise services
• Workforce development

USAID FED works with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI), Ministry of Finance (MoF), civil societies and the private sector in providing communities access to agricultural inputs — including improved seed varieties — extension services, nutrition messages, processing services, market information, transportation, credit, agro-business education, training, and enterprise services.

In five years, USAID FED’s thrust to expand market linkages is expected to lead to substantial increases in income and job opportunities. USAID FED aims to significantly boost the production, processing, marketing and nutritional utilization of rice, cassava and vegetables, and to enhance the productivity of goat farming in the counties covered by the program.

These initiatives are being carried out in Bong, Lofa, Nimba, Grand Bassa, Montserrado, and Margibi counties. USAID FED focuses on these counties because they are situated along regional development corridors that are crucial in promoting intra and inter-county commerce. These growth corridors are expected to improve food availability and access for all Liberians.

USAID FED’s methodology is market-led and value chain-driven; it is committed to developing indigenous capacity building, with a specific focus on Liberia’s women and youth.

USAID FED is implemented by five partners: Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI), Winrock International, International Fertilizer Developmental Center (IFDC), Louisiana State University (LSU), and The Cadmus Group.

Executive Summary

In FY14, USAID FED achieved major milestones and either reached or exceeded targets for 16 of the 20 program indicators. A total of 40,779 farmers applied improved technologies on more than 6,305 hectares as a result of USAID FED assistance. Full-time employment (FTEs) generated by the program increased from 90 in FY13 to 2,177 in FY14.

The commercialization of the rice value chain commenced with surplus production from USAID FED beneficiaries and the establishment of Fabrar, the first industrial rice mill in Liberia. Fabrar has started buying large volumes of grain rice from USAID FED beneficiaries, contributing to total sales of 1,183 MT of grain rice with a value of US$561,800 at the farmer’s level. Over 8,550 MT of milling capacity and 2,054 cubic meters of storage capacity were created through the program’s support in anticipation of more surpluses in FY15.

The program expanded the demonstration of Urea Deep Placement (UDP) methodology at 139 sites. The program also trained 17 rice seed inspectors to ensure rice seed production protocols are properly adhered to by seed producers at 22 rice seed multiplication sites. Enhanced irrigation structures were constructed to provide water for 50 hectares of rice lands at 12 sites. These irrigation structures are being used to demonstrate technology that can lead farmers to plant two-to-three crops per year.

In the cassava value chain, the program established 40 nurseries that will supply cuttings of improved cassava varieties to 25,000 cassava farmers for planting on approximately 6,250 hectares of cassava fields. To further augment availability and access to improved planting materials, USAID FED and institutional partner Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI), imported 40,000 cuttings of 11 new varieties from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Nigeria. Cassava farmers assisted in FY13 have so far sold 657 metric tons of cassava tubers with a value of US$90,262. Harvesting is expected to continue until December of this year.

USAID FED has engaged small cassava processors in Monrovia and facilitated meetings between processors and cassava farming clusters. The Monrovia-based processors were preparing to source tubers from FED beneficiaries when the Ebola crisis began. The processors still express strong interest in buying from FED-supported farming clusters. In total, USAID FED evaluated capacity gaps of 29 micro and small cassava processors who will be supported in FY15.

In the goat value chain, USAID FED has increased the production intensification sites from 19 in FY13 to 103 in FY14 and supported the construction of 271 goat shelters. A total of 206 Community Animal Health Workers (CAHW) were trained and provided with starter kits to enable them to provide veterinary services to local goat farmers. USAID FED started marketing activities by piloting a livestock market day with goat farmers and traders. In FY14, program beneficiaries sold more than 1,651 goats for a value of US$128,460. USAID FED supported the establishment of a livestock quarantine facility at CARI, which then quarantined 209 goats imported by the United States Department of Agriculture / Land O’Lakes (USDA/LOL) Food for Progress program.

In the horticulture value chain, USAID FED established and supported 21 clusters that produce high-value vegetables and assisted them in establishing a collection center in each cluster. These collection centers serve as platforms for demonstrating improved post-harvest handling and processing of fresh vegetables. USAID FED-assisted procurement contracts resulted in traders buying 36 MT of vegetables valued at US$41,000, contributing to vegetable sales of more than US$180,000 in FY14. A three-way collaboration between local micro-finance institution Liberia Entrepreneurial and Asset Development (LEAD), USAID FED and vegetable farmers to procure water pumps for vegetable production during the dry season was a breakthrough activity.

Under USAID FED’s Component Two, the program made significant progress in improving the Business Enabling Environment with the reinstatement of the duty waiver for importation of agricultural inputs under Executive Order No.64, and Liberia’s adoption of the seed, fertilizer and pesticides regulations of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Additionally, the program initiated the formation of a multi-agency policy group named Liberia Agriculture Business Enabling Environment Interagency Policy Group (LABEE IPG).

The Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) program grew from 26 groups in FY13 to 123 groups in FY14, benefiting 3,400 farmers, mostly women. The VSLAs generated US$184,000 in savings-based loans for members. These loans facilitated sales of agricultural products worth US$120,000 and raised US$184,000 in investments in agricultural activities.

In the program’s Component Three, the National Diploma in Agriculture (NDA) curriculum was finalized and approved by the Ministry of Education (MoE) for adoption in the three FED-supported community colleges and the Booker T. Washington Institute (BWI). USAID FED provided technical assistance to develop syllabi and lesson plans for the NDA’s first two semesters.

Although the FY14 accomplishments bring the program closer to its goals, there are still areas where USAID FED needs to propose modifications of contractual targets based on the challenges and realities on the ground. While USAID FED is working on finalizing the proposal to modify some targets, it continues to strive to accomplish the project’s scope of work through innovative approaches and the implementation of lessons learned in the first three years of the program.

A major lesson learned in FY14 is the need to start area and beneficiary identification two months before the start of the fiscal year to ensure timely delivery of inputs. The program’s Market Development Fund (MDF) management system requires area and beneficiary details for approval of activities and procurement requests. This system was developed based on lessons learned from FY13 and aims to avoid inventory piling up in program warehouses. USAID FED has established a standard support package of technical assistance and agricultural inputs to new farmer beneficiaries based on FY13 and FY14 experience. The combination of early engagement of new beneficiaries and the standardization of support at the farm level is expected to address delays previously experienced in delivering inputs to beneficiaries.

In FY15, the overall direction of the program is to continue supporting improvements in productivity and increases in production within the four value chains via increased outreach on the production side.

USAID FED will support an additional 39,610 beneficiaries with inputs, technology demonstrations and training. The support to beneficiaries from FY12, FY13 and FY14 will focus on business development services, creating access to improved planting materials, access to financing, improving options for markets, as well as continuing technical assistance to ensure adoption of improved technology. USAID FED’s total beneficiary outreach is expected to reach 79,000 people by the end of FY15, and improved technology will be applied on an additional 8,687 hectares with direct program support.

In FY14, USAID FED placed equal emphasis on helping market players improve their capacity to process, transport, store, and sell local produce to end-market channels at competitive prices. In FY15, the program will continue to strengthen the capacity of processors, traders and other market channels to absorb the increasing surplus production. With the production segment of the value chains now positioned to deliver more supply, the program will give more support to sustainable arrangements in aggregating farm produce, such as those through collection centers and group marketing.

USAID FED will support improved post-harvest handling and logistics service provision to ensure timely transport and delivery of produce from farm to market in order to reduce post-harvest losses. USAID FED will leverage marketing platforms such as processors, aggregators, and providers of mechanized services like power tillers to expand its reach beyond the farmers who receive direct assistance. Additionally, the program will tap youth organizations to provide logistic services to encourage youth involvement in the agriculture sector.

USAID FED will begin engaging value chain players to improve governance of the value chains focusing on product standardization, price discrimination based on quality and more transparent market information. USAID FED’s specific objectives for the different value chains are as follows:

Rice Value Chain

• Train 11,025 upland rice farmers and 7,175 lowland rice farmers.
• Increase productivity on 2,965 hectares of upland rice areas.
• Expand lowland rice production on 1,908 hectares.
• Target at least 50 percent of FY14 lowland areas with UDP adoption.
• Assist farmers in areas where the 12 irrigation spillways were established in FY14 to harvest two crops in one year on 50 hectares of land.
• Build 30 new irrigation spillways in FY15 on another 160 hectares of land.
• Assist at least one private sector company in commercially producing and marketing good seeds of the improved rice varieties.
• Assist 30 power tiller operators and help them to operate profitably.
• Fabrar Liberia and/or another private sector stakeholder (e.g., input supplier or trader) to provide inputs through embedded services to USAID FED farmers.
• Sales at the farm level will increase to three times that of FY14.
• Business hubs established in FY14 supported to operate profitably.
• Support three large Liberian landowners towards commercial production of lowland rice.
• Construction of 6 storage facilities
• Construction of 10 drying pads

Cassava Value Chain

• Introduce 12,960 farmers to improved planting methods and Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) on 3,564 hectares of land.
• Support 40 commercial nurseries to supply good quality planting materials of improved cassava varieties to 25,000 cassava farmers.
• Propagate 11 successfully screened, imported improved cassava varieties and selected genotypes released by CARI and IITA within Liberia.
• Support 29 micro-processors in increasing their procurement of raw tubers and improving their profitability.
• Assist four small processing enterprises based in Monrovia in increasing their procurement of raw tuber from 3 MT to 7 MT per month, and increase their sales from US$3,300 to US$7,700 per month.

Horticulture Value Chain

• Train 3,750 vegetable farmers in 186 clusters in improved production practices for local and high-value vegetables on a minimum of 125 hectares.
• Support 3,390 vegetable farmers who will produce and supply local vegetable varieties to six trader associations identified in USAID FED counties.
• Develop 186 lead farmers from these clusters who will aggregate local and high-value vegetables for trader associations and the private sector companies.
• Support private sector investors like ROSNA, Grain Coast Inc. and others to establish contract farming with at least 700 farmers as out-growers for high-value vegetable production.
• Assist five trader associations and two private sector firms in operating low-cost storage and logistics facilities that will reduce post-harvest losses.
• Protected cultivation is successfully demonstrated during the rainy season, producing vegetables on 21 FY14 sites.
• Encourage 12 agro-dealers to co-invest and aggressively market inputs to vegetable clusters in the six counties in partnership with agro-input supplier companies like Wienco or GroGreen.
• Grain Coast Inc. to begin exporting high-value vegetables to European markets.
• Support one private sector company in establishing vegetable certified-seed production and distribution pilot plan.

Goats Value Chain

• Support 77 new goat production sites with 1,545 goat farmers with goat shelters.
• Train 4,017 new goat farmer beneficiaries in improved production practices.
• Support 2,060 direct beneficiaries in FY13 and FY14 in accessing markets, business development services and financing.
• Train and provide start-up kits to 154 new CAHWS who will provide veterinary services to goat farmers.
• Establish at least one livestock marketing hub in each of the four counties.
• Establish product standards and provide tools and equipment (weighing scales) to enforce these standards.
• Promote improved nutrition designed to shorten the time from weaning to market, leading to more goats sold in a year.
• Conduct peste des petits ruminants (PPR) vaccination campaign nationwide.
• Establish a nucleus breeding herd in CARI.

Peri-Urban Agriculture and Youth

• Support 25 new horticulture clusters in Margibi and Montserrado benefitting 500 youth producing high-value-vegetables and linked to buyers.
• Establish 49 new youth micro-enterprises to provide transport services in the cassava and rice value chains.
• Establish 20 new youth micro-enterprises to provide power tiller and power saw services.
• Create 98 new full time jobs for youth as machine operators in cassava processing enterprises and rice business hubs.
• Support FY14 apprentices in creating 16 new micro-enterprises providing blacksmith and carpentry services to rice and goat farmers.
• Support at least four local youth NGOs providing extension services to expand service offerings to include business development services; and help them achieve profitable operations.

In FY14, 70 percent of the program’s beneficiaries received nutrition messages. In FY15, USAID FED will improve messaging through a communications strategy that aims to change consumption patterns towards a more diversified diet containing more animal protein and nutrient-rich food.

In FY15, USAID FED will continue to conduct special studies that are meant to inform programming with data, which will serve as basis for adjusting targets and enhancing FY15 and FY16 strategies. Annual surveys on rice, cassava and vegetables yields help determine the impact of USAID FED’s intervention while providing a realistic benchmark for future targets.

In FY15, the MoA offices in Bong, Lofa, Nimba and Grand Bassa counties will be provided with equipment to collect, process, analyze, store and transmit data. The program aims to first make the MoA Bong County office’s Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system fully functional. This system will then be replicated to the MoA offices in Grand Bassa, Nimba and Lofa counties.

Component Two: Stimulate Private Enterprise Growth and Investment

• Draft and gain approval for the implementing guidelines and set up implementing bodies for the Seed, Fertilizer and Pesticides regulations.
• Expand VSLAs from 123 to 573, facilitating loans of US$350,000 to 7,075 farmers.
• Pilot the formation of at least one VSLA into a micro-credit union in partnership with Microlead.
• Link LEAD to farmers and MSMEs to disburse US$237,000 in loans to 1,416 farmers and entrepreneurs.
• Facilitate financing for at least three MSMEs to enable them to provide embedded financing services to farming clusters.

USAID FED will merge the activities related to Access to Business Development Services (ABDS) under Component Two with the activities related to the establishment of the Enterprise Service Centers (ESCs). In FY15, USAID FED will develop five Business Service Providers (BSPs) to support a minimum of 250 MSMEs and 18,935 farmers. The program will register a minimum of 50 new MSMEs through the BSPs and work to strengthen the capacity of farming organizations to do business. These BSPs will be strengthened toward eventually managing and operating the Enterprise Service Centers.

USAID FED continues to place a strong focus on increasing women’s involvement in agribusinesses and empowering women in agriculture. In FY15, the program will incubate businesses for 50 women leaders involved in diverse agribusinesses including peanut and cowpea processing and marketing.

Component Three: Building Local Technical and Managerial Human Resource Capacity

• Roll out the National Diploma in Agriculture (NDA) as soon as schools open.
• Complete the development of syllabi and lesson plans for the second year of the NDA.
• Complete the establishment of agricultural science laboratory (includes the soils laboratory) and computer laboratory in every Center of Excellence (CoE).
• Complete upgrading of libraries.
• Support the establishment of agribusiness enterprises, and develop the CoEs’ capacity to generate incomes from other sources.
• Strengthen partnership with private sector agribusinesses and continue to improve the instructors’ capacity to deliver the NDA

AgroInvest is a five-year project (2011-2016) funded by USAID/Ukraine. The purpose of the Project is to provide technical assistance to accelerate and broaden economic recovery in Ukraine through support to the agriculture sector and increase the country’s contribution to global food security efforts. The contract is a Cost Plus Fixed Fee Term-type, Level-of-Effort contract with a ceiling of $18,755,641.

Project Scope of Work

AgroInvest will accelerate broad-based economic recovery through a more inclusive and competitive agricultural industry. AgroInvest is designed around three separate but interrelated component objectives, each supported by specific expected results under each component as illustrated below in the Results Framework.

Component 1 activities involve both a supply- and demand-side approach to supporting a stable, market-oriented policy environment. From the supply side, AgroInvest will promote the implementation of less volatile, more market-oriented policies that stimulate increased production and investments in the agricultural sector. On the demand side, Component 1 activities will strengthen the capacity of industry associations to shape agricultural policies and provide public education on land rights among rural landowners. Under Component 2, AgroInvest will stimulate access to finance by strengthening partnerships between financial service providers and value chain actors, including input suppliers and buyers, to facilitate sustainable access to financial services for small and medium producers (SMPs). Finally, Component 3 activities will create a more effective market infrastructure for SMPs and increase the profitability of farming through better access to markets, the development of wholesale and regional markets, and capacity building for producer organizations (POs).

Project Results Framework

Attainment of component objectives will allow us to realize the Project’s purpose of accelerating economic recovery in Ukraine through support to the agricultural sector. Ultimately, AgroInvest supports the U.S. Foreign Assistance Framework economic growth objective and four program areas: trade and investment, agriculture, private sector competitiveness, and economic opportunity. The Project’s monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system, introduced in the Performance Monitoring Plan PMP), is designed to measure and report on progress against these objectives and expected results using 37 indicators. These indicators and their associated annual and life-of-project targets are listed in the table shown in the Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP) chart (Annex A).

AgroInvest is a five-year project (2011-2016) funded by USAID/Ukraine. The purpose of the Project is to provide technical assistance to accelerate and broaden economic recovery in Ukraine through support to the agriculture sector and increase the country’s contribution to global food security efforts. The contract is a Cost Plus Fixed Fee Term-type, Level-of-Effort contract with a ceiling of $20,605,641.

Project Scope of Work

AgroInvest will accelerate broad-based economic recovery through a more inclusive and competitive agricultural industry. AgroInvest is designed around three separate but interrelated component objectives, each supported by specific expected results under each component as illustrated below in the Results Framework.

Component 1 activities involve both a supply- and demand-side approach to supporting a stable, market-oriented policy environment. From the supply side, AgroInvest will promote the implementation of less volatile, more market-oriented policies that stimulate increased production and investments in the agricultural sector. On the demand side, Component 1 activities will strengthen the capacity of industry associations to shape agricultural policies and provide public education on land rights among rural landowners. Under Component 2, AgroInvest will stimulate access to finance by strengthening partnerships between financial service providers and value chain actors, including input suppliers and buyers, to facilitate sustainable access to financial services for small and medium producers (SMPs). Finally, Component 3 activities will create a more effective market infrastructure for SMPs and increase the profitability of farming through better access to markets, the development of wholesale and regional markets, and capacity building for producer organizations (POs).

Project Results Framework

Attainment of component objectives will allow us to realize the Project’s purpose of accelerating economic recovery in Ukraine through support to the agricultural sector. Ultimately, AgroInvest supports the U.S. Foreign Assistance Framework economic growth objective and four program areas: trade and investment, agriculture, private sector competitiveness, and economic opportunity. The Project’s monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system, introduced in the Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP), is designed to measure and report on progress against these objectives and expected results using 37 indicators. These indicators and their associated annual and life-of-project targets are listed in the table shown in the Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP) chart (Annex A).

AgroInvest is a five-year project (2011-2016) funded by USAID/Ukraine. The purpose of the project is to provide technical assistance to accelerate and broaden economic recovery in Ukraine through support to the agriculture sector and increase the country‟s contribution to global food security efforts. The contract is a Level-of-Effort award with a ceiling of $20,605,641.

Project Scope of Work

AgroInvest will accelerate broad-based economic recovery through a more inclusive and competitive agricultural industry. AgroInvest is designed around three separate but interrelated component objectives, each supported by specific expected results under each component as illustrated below in the Results Framework.

Component 1 activities involve both a supply- and demand-side approach to supporting a stable, market-oriented policy environment. From the supply side, AgroInvest will promote the implementation of less volatile, more market-oriented policies that stimulate increased investments in the agricultural sector. On the demand side, Component 1 activities will strengthen the capacity of industry associations to shape agricultural policies and provide public education on land rights among rural landowners. Under Component 2, AgroInvest will stimulate access to finance by strengthening partnerships between financial service providers and value chain actors, including input suppliers and buyers, to facilitate sustainable access to financial services for small and medium producers (SMPs). Finally, Component 3 activities will create a more effective market infrastructure for SMPs and increase the profitability of farming through better access to markets, the development of wholesale and regional markets, and capacity building for producer organizations (POs).

Project Results Framework

Attainment of component objectives will allow us to realize the project‟s purpose of accelerating economic recovery in Ukraine through support to the agricultural sector. Ultimately, AgroInvest supports the U.S. Foreign Assistance Framework economic growth objective and four program areas: trade and investment, agriculture, private sector competitiveness, and economic opportunity. The project‟s monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system, introduced in the Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP), is designed to measure and report on progress against these objectives and expected results using 28 indicators. These indicators and their associated annual and life-of-project targets are listed in the table shown in the PMP.