May 4, 2010
The FAO is supporting urban gardens in Montserrado County by providing seeds and training in techniques such as conserving rainwater and composting. Today just one percent of residents in Montserrado grow their own produce, compared to 70 percent before the war.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), funded by the Swedish International Development Corporation Agency (SIDA) is targeting 5,000 urban residents of Montserrado, Bomi, Grand Bassa, Bong and Margibi counties, to encourage them to start market gardens or increase the amount of fruit and vegetables they grow on their farms. Participants had to have access to tools and some land.
The aim is to improve food security and nutritional status while boosting incomes, said project coordinator Albert Kpassawah.
Joseph Rogers, who has a half-acre market garden in Johnsonville on the outskirts of Monrovia, now grows enough to sell part of his produce.
"Sometimes people come here to purchase huge quantities. I pay for the school fees with the money I earn," Rogers told IRIN.
Paul Tah, father of six, had never farmed before he got involved in the FAO project. "I got interested in this project because of the lack of jobs in this country," he told IRIN. He now makes $200 each season from selling peppers.
While FAO provides seeds and training, it does not provide fertilizer, insecticides or tools.
"You cannot grow cabbage without insecticide. It doesn't work," Anthony Nackers told IRIN.
Vermin, insects and poor storage destroy 60 percent of Liberia's annual harvest, according to FAO.
And many of the most vulnerable city-dwellers – those with no access to land – cannot participate at all, FAO's Kpassawah pointed out.
Source: IRIN, 19 Jan 2010
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