The Farmers Resource Centre, Grand Bassa County, Liberia
Tuesday, 29 November 2005
The Farmers Resource Centre, Grand Bassa County, Liberia
A bumpy drive along the densely forested road from Grand Bassa County, Liberia, culminates in a small rise up to Tayway Town. The Farmers Resource Centre is located to one side of Tayway Town where the civil compound of District Two of Grand Bassa County is also located.
One can see Rows of cassava, planted on evenly spaced mounds that are laid out in neat rows. Glancing across towards the palm trees that demarcate the Centre’s land, upland rice is thriving within the brushed land that is scarred with blackened tree stumps. Below, flashes of bright colours decorate the brilliant green of the lowland swamp where women are bent double tending the paddy. Men swing cutlasses in preparation for the planting of vegetable plots. Stretching beyond the swamps are fields of ground nuts – the individual plots of the voluntary labourers.
The Grand Bassa Food Security Programme
The rationale for the Grand Bassa Food Security Programme, of which the Farmers Resource Centre is a part, rests on the need for reconstruction following civil war. Grand Bassa, a coastal county situated south-east of Monrovia, has an estimated population of 245,000 inhabitants.
The civil crisis severely disrupted infrastructure and production in Grand Bassa County so that, at the time of intervention, roads and bridges had deteriorated throughout the county, water sanitation facilities were virtually non-existent, access to schools, medical facilities and markets was extremely limited and unemployment rates had rocketed.
The Food Security Programme was initiated in 2001 with a pilot project. Following early successes, 24 micro-projects, which included the development of lowland swamp rice, the construction of cassava processing factories, the production of plantains, the restocking of animals and the construction and rehabilitation of bridges and wells were implemented in 2002.
However, the third round of conflict interrupted the Programme. By March 2003 access to the programme area was impossible and work was officially suspended by the EU in May of that year, although local staff maintained links with partner organisations.
Townspeople subsequently had been forced to flee their Towns and hide in the bush, covertly accessing their farms at night. Looting was widespread and Townspeople reported the near total loss of assets, including household items, farming tools and animals. Farms were abandoned, becoming overgrown. The offices of Concern Liberia were ransacked with items down to light-fittings being removed. The 2003 conflict effectively reversed the work of the previous year.
The programme restarted in 2004. To date, 43 micro-projects have been implemented and these include the re-implementation of the original 24 micro-projects. In addition to the original projects, pineapple production replaced plantain production and a massive seeds and tools distribution was undertaken, with a view to rapidly replacing some of the assets lost during the 2003 conflict. The Farmers Resource Centre was one of the key initiatives of the post-conflict programme.
The Farmers Resource Centre
The Farmers Resource Centre was established with the aim of contributing to improving the food security of farming communities affected by conflict in Grand Bassa County. Specifically, the Centre exists in order to train farmers in good agricultural practices and to multiply good quality planting material for vulnerable farmers.
Over the six month period that this report was compiled, the Farmers Resource Centre has enjoyed significant growth. Early visits took place during the brushing and planting season, when men cleared the lowland areas of bush and demarcated the bunds of the swamp and women brushed and planted rice seedlings in the upland areas. Then - in May - the cassava had just been planted on small mounds in straight rows and vegetable production - potatoes, bitter ball, sweet potatoes, cowpeas and ground nuts - was just beginning.
The Centre has since been visited on a monthly basis, often during the training sessions that are held for local farmers and the thirteen extension workers of the three Buchanan-based partner NGOs of Concern. Since December 2004, farmers numbering between 30 and 40 have attended the training sessions from the surrounding communities.
During these sessions, participants have been trained on subjects as diverse as the seasonal farming calendar, preparation of planting material, germination of rice and maize, planting methods. Sessions are also included on the kuu system (a Liberian system of labour organisation), the sustainability of Community Based Organisations, hygiene awareness and HIV/AIDS.
Every training session culminates in an open screening of a documentary entitled “Positive Youth”, which explores HIV/AIDS issues. The Farmers Resource Centre is an excellent forum for the dissemination of messages about HIV/AIDS and in surrounding Towns residents discuss the ways in which HIV can be transmitted.
The Visit of the Overseas Director
The visit was an event at the FRC. The manager, extension workers, casual labourers and local Townspeople decorated the Centre in a gesture of welcome and came to the top of the road to greet the arrivals from Concern. Drumming and dancing marked the occasion and the Overseas Director was presented with a white chicken, a symbol of welcome and goodwill, by the Chairlady of the Centre.
For those who have worked with the Farmers Resource Centre since its inception, this was a beautiful moment of celebration. The visit gave an opportunity to everybody to mark the achievements of the Centre, made possible by the renewed peace in Liberia.
