The Farmers Union Network of Liberia (FUNL) has embarked on a five-day national training workshop for local stock managers in Liberia and training of 30 participants in local food reserve management
The training, an ECOWAS Food Security Storage Support Project in West Africa, commenced on July 22—26, 2024 in Kingsville, Number 7, Montserrado County.
Thirty participants from 12 cooperatives involved in rice production and storage registered under the National Rice Federation of Liberia (NRFL). Each selected FO sent up to 3 participants (1 manager, 1 administrator, 1 sales agent and / or 1 stock manager; 1 technician, and so on.
Earlier speaking at the opening, Josephine George Francis, President of FUNL, expressed pleasure at welcoming everyone at the union’s first major training program.
“As the president of our umbrella farmers’ organization, which is Farmers Union Network of Liberia (FUNL), it is important for farmers to be collaborative and united.” Francis underscored that they can achieve great success and overcome any challenge that may come their way.
She challenged participants to see the workshop as an opportunity to learn from one another and work towards a sustainable and prosperous future for all in the farming community.
The lead facilitator, Archie Glay, welcomed all participants, and said that he was inspired by the dedication and hard work that each of the farming organization brings to the farming community.
As he discussed the importance of the organization, Glay said, “This workshop is an opportunity for you to come together, share knowledge, experience, and learn from one another.
“We need open communication, active participation, and a spirit of collaboration as we work towards our shared goals of advancing our farming practices and contributing to a sustainable future,” he told participants.
He further cautioned them to take advantage of this time together and make a positive impact on the farming community.
He explained that the program is designed to building the capacity of managers in local food stock management in Liberia, so that they can manage their stocks effectively.
One of the active participants of the workshop, Nancy Bryant, Executive Director of Rise and Shine Multipurpose Corporative based in Grand Bassa County, commended the organization for conducting such an impactful and educative training program for farmers.
“I promise to help train other farmers in the county, who were unable to attend the program in Monrovia, but in so doing I ask the union (FUNL) to kindly help me sponsor the process,” Bryant said.
She added that the training program should be spread to other parts of the country to enable other local farmers to benefit from its immense impact.
The initiative is part of the implementation of the regional food security storage strategy based on the complementarity of three lines of defense: local stock managed by groups or cooperative organizations, national food security stock managed by government, and the Regional Food Security Reserve.
Participants were selected from local storage management actors in 5 counties in Liberia: Grand Bassa, Nimba, Bong, Lofa and Montserrado.
Institutions that participated in the workshop are Agriculture Infrastructure Investment Company, Community for Hope Agriculture Project, Mayour River Women Agriculture Cooperative, Selma Agriculture Development Corporation, Arjay Farm, Ready Freeman Agro Complex, Gbedin Cooperative, SEAS Inc./ Life Liberia, Margbeh Farmers Corporative, Growing Seed Foundation Liberia, Fuama District Multipurpose Cooperative and Rise and Shine Multipurpose Cooperative Society.
During the workshop, participants were taught governance of farming organizations, good price risk management practices: careful pricing, supply and sales management in the 3 local storage systems (group supply, feed banks, group marketing), etc.
In the framework of the implementation of the regional food security storage strategy, a series of interdependent actions are planned to support the improvement of local food reserve management, their networking, and the development of contractual relations with national security stocks and/or the regional reserve.
Facilitators said the training program was based on two (2) modalities: face-to-face training and e-learning. This involved training of national local stock managers; training participants in the 8 modules of the local stock management training curriculum and e-learning; training participants in a practical, participant-centered methodological approach to promote learning and understanding within groups; providing participants with the tools they need to better manage their local stocks; and providing participants with the necessary monitoring and evaluation tools to measure the changes in their local stock management resulting from the training.
In a related development, he commended the ECOWAS Commission, through the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF), which has received funding from the Agence Française de Dévelopement (AFD) and the World Bank’s FSRP, to finance the implementation of the interim phase of the ECOWAS Food Security Storage Support Project in West Africa.