UNDP LIBERIA and UNDP AFRICAN FACILITY

FOR INCLUSIVE MARKETS

LIBERIA AGRICULTURE SECTOR INVESTMENT PLAN

PUBLIC-PRIVATE DIALOGUE AND INVESTMENT FACILITATION PLATFORM

SEPT. 2013

FINAL PROJECT REPORT

Table of Contents

ACRONYMS

AFIM African Facility for Inclusive Markets

CAADP Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Plan

EU European Union

GoL Government of Liberia

IFC International Finance Corporation

IFP Investment Facilitation Platform

LASIP Liberia Agriculture Sector Investment Plan

MoA Ministry of Agriculture

NIC National Investment Commission

NPCA NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency

PPD Public Private Sector Dialogue

PRS Poverty Reduction Strategy

UNDP United Nations Development Program

USAID United States Agency for International Development

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This event could not have been undertaken without the leadership of the National Investment Commission and the Ministry of Agriculture, the facilitation and coordination support of UNDP Liberia, the financial and technical support of UNDP AFIM, the active participation of the USAID Liberia Food and Enterprise Development Programme and the European Union Mission to Liberia, the timely enterprise support rendered by the Building Markets Programme which is supported by the IFC and USAID.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACRONYMS b. Acknowledgements b. Executive Summary 1.

Background 3.

Programme Overview 4.

Conclusion 10.

Next Steps 11.

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Executive Summary From September 9-10, 2013, the Government of the Republic of Liberia (GOL) hosted a 2-day public private dialogue (PPD) and a related Investment Facilitation Platform (IFP) to promote private sector investment and support publci-private partnership in relation to the implementation of the Liberia Agriculture Sector Investment Plan (LASIP). The event took place at the Monrovia City Hall in Monrovia, Liberia and brought together approximately 150 participants from the public and private sectors (including both local and international agriculture and agribusiness entrepreneurs and investors,. and Liberian small-hold farmers). Also present at the occasion were a number of development partners, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the European Union (EU), the World Bank, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The initiative was also supported and funded by the UNDP country office in Liberia, the UNDP African Facility for Inclusive Markets, the private sector program of the Regional Services Centre. The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) of Liberia and the National Investment Commission (NIC) were the lead government institutions and co-convened the two day programme.

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The principal objective of the PPD and IFP was to:

a) Promote and popularize LASIP as the principal agriculture investment program and framework for the sector’s development in Liberia;

b) To furthermore promote the development of a cadre of dynamic local agric-entrepeneurs in both the production and transformation sub-sectors of the agriculture value chain;

c) To promote inclusive agriculture sector development, and emphasize the important of engaging small hold farmers in the implementation plans related to LASIP and the need to facilitate linkages between smaller farmers in the country and large farming concessioners;

d) To establish a platform through which the government could showcase the many initiatives that it had developed to promote agriculture in the country and afford private sector and other stakeholders to raise questions and provide feedback in regard to the public sector initiatives, and

e) The forum served as a platform to introduce local and regional investors to selected private sector investment opportunities emerging in line with the aims of LASIP.

Lastly, as the event was attended by UNDP representatives and guests from the DRC, the event also served as a regional knowledge sharing event to promote the efficacy of the PPD/ IFP programme as a methodology to stimulate private sector engagement, involvement and investment in national agricultural investment plans developed under the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Plan framework.

The first day of the event featured presentations on LASIP and the government’s investment plans in relation to its implementation. International agribusiness investors and various development partners also shared their experiences in supporting the local agriculture sector and encouraged those in attendance to redouble their efforts to promote the sector. During the second day, after the presentation of an overview on the IFP concept and its origins as a tool to support CAADP’s efforts to engage the private sector and stimulate private sector investment within the CAADP national agriculture investment plan framework, a cadre of local agric-entrepreneurs were afforded an opportunity to present their businesses to the attendees and discuss their plans for the future. The National Investment Commission and the development partners assembled pledged to assist the companies going forward and the Acting Minister of Agriculture called for a second annual IFP to take place in 2014 to provide an opportunity for all of the stakeholders in attendance to measure the progress that was to be made.

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Background The African Union’s Comprehensive African Agriculture Programme (CAADP), which is managed by the NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency (NPCA), encourages African governments to invest 10% of their annual budgets into the agriculture sector with the aim of achieving an average annual agricultural sector growth rate of six per cent, to support: 1) food and nutrition security; 2) help develop regional and sub-regional agricultural markets; 3) integrate farmers and pastoralists into the market economy; and 4) to help achieve a more equitable distribution of wealth. To achieve these objectives CAADP focuses on four main pillars, namely,

Pillar I: Extending the area under sustainable land management and reliable water management systems;

Pillar II: Improving rural infrastructure and trade-related capacities for improved market access;

Pillar III: Increasing food supply and reducing poverty and improving responses to food emergency crises; and

Pillar IV: Improving agriculture technology and dissemination. Liberia is a nation-state transitioning from “emergency to development.” Under the leadership of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first female elected head of state, the country has embarked on the Herculean task of reconstructing a war-damaged society. The GOL developed a Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) that directed efforts toward addressing the interlinking problems of poor governance, illiteracy, unemployment, poverty, and social conflict. The PRS has four pillars: Expanding Peace and Security; Revitalizing Economic Activities; Strengthening Governance and the Rule of Law; and Rebuilding Infrastructure and Providing Basic Services. The government of Liberia (GOL) adheres to the vision and principles of CAADP and is a signatory to the framework. The LASIP was developed in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the framework. It presents the strategic choices Liberia has made for agricultural growth and development over the next ten years in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner. The LASIP seeks to transform Liberian agriculture and, in so doing, maximize the sector’s contributions to economic growth, employment and income generation, food and nutrition security, and poverty reduction. Within this context, the Ministry of Agriculture will concentrate its actions and efforts on smallholders with a focus on food crops (rice, cassava, and vegetables), value chains, and raising income. Liberia’s formal compliance with the country commitments of CAADP was confirmed on the 16th October 2009 when the country signed its Compact with CAADP. The CAADP Compact represents commitment by the Government of the Republic of Liberia, its development partners and other stakeholders to prioritise agricultural sector development towards poverty alleviation and food security. The government considers agricultural growth to be critical to reducing poverty and solving the roots of the conflict. LASIP is thus a framework for the prioritisation, planning, coordination and harmonization of investments that will drive Liberia’s agricultural development over the next decade. The LASIP identifies priority areas from which investment projects aligning national objectives and the

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CAADP will be developed. The program will be a public-private partnership (PPP) in which investment growth for the export sectors will be spearheaded by the private sector, while the public sector will concentrate on the promotion of small farmer growth and development.

Programme Overview

The opening ceremony was led by a group of high level government officials and representatives of development partners who each made strong commitments geared toward supporting a strong, effective and efficient agriculture and agribusiness sector in Liberia.

In his opening remarks, the Acting Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Charles N. McClain expressed his thanks and gratitude to all of the stakeholders for responding to the GOL’s invitation and coming to attend the dialogue and discuss their views on how government can best facilitate investment

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in agriculture and agribusiness in Liberia. Dr. McClain further reiterated that the event was intended to showcase LASIP as an opportunity for private sector investment:

He also confirmed that LASIP has its foundation in CAADP and that the program (CAADP) clearly articulates four broader pillars for agriculture-led economic growth in Africa:

1. Eliminating Hunger; 2. Diminishing Food and Nutrition Insecurity; 3. Reducing Poverty; and 4. Facilitating the expansion of Exports

In closing, Dr. McClain informed the audience that, unfortunately to date, LASIP lacks private sector involvement and this “poses challenging opportunities in the attainment of CAADP goals.” He concluded by reemphasizing that the role of the private sector is crucial to guaranteeing sustainable economic transformation in the nation and noted that “there is an urgent need for the

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private sector to jump on board and take advantage of the profitable opportunities” LASIP presents. The NIC was duly represented by its Chairman, Hon. O. Natty B. Davis, who welcomed and thanked participants for showing up and pledged government’s support to the development of a vibrant private sector through massive investment attraction as well as creating the enabling environment for doing business in Liberia.

From among the development partners, the Country Director of the UNDP, Dr. Kamil Kamaluddeen, informed the participants that UNDP was pleased to be a part of the event. He also shared information with the attendees about the Private Sector Development and Natural Resource Governance accord which had been recently signed between the UNDP Country Office and the Government of Liberia, with the NIC as the main implementing partner.

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According to Dr. Kamaluddeen, the “program is focused on addressing the various challenges faced by the private sector and that is, in part, what this forum is also about.” The programme, he further noted, will focus on “upstream” efforts to improve the policy and regulatory environment as well as “downstream” intervention to develop the capacity of local entrepreneurs for improved productivity and competitiveness. Finally, Dr. Kamaluddeen stated that the IFP and related PPD present much needed solutions and is certainly a way of removing the barrier to sustainable economic transformation.

Common to the opening statements from all of high level officials were pledges and commitments to support current and future private sector initiatives in Liberia - especially in agriculture and agribusiness. Also oft-stated was the recognition of the potential that agriculture and agribusiness offer toward local private sector development and private sector actors were encouraged to join the LASIP implementation process and to take advantage of the opportunities that were being presented to boost agriculture sector related investment in the country.

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The Day 1 Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) offered a number of presentations and panel discussions on: an Overview of the Liberian CAADP Investment Plan (same as the LASIP), Liberia’s Sector Prioritization and Investment Promotion, Key Components to Accelerate Public and Private Collaboration for Investment in Agriculture, Public Sector Investment and Plans in Agriculture: Opportunities for Private Sector Partnership, and Private Sector Investment Activity in Agriculture: Opportunities for Public Sector Partnership.

The IFP, on Day 2, included presentations from four Liberian owned agribusiness companies who showcased business plans in the rice, cassava, plantain, and packaging industries in the nation’s

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economy. The four project promoters were selected from a group of 15 Liberian entrepreneurs operating at varying levels along the value chain in agriculture and agribusiness.

The idea was to keep investors and relevant stakeholders aware of the existing private sector initiatives aimed at executing the LASIP and to also create business linkages that will support larger longer term investments among local enterprises entering the agriculture sector. The IFP also included presentations and panel discussions centered on the Objectives and Overview of UNDP AFIM, Objectives and Overview of the CAADP Investment Facilitation Program, and finally, Investment and Support for CAADP Investment Program.

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At the close of the final panel discussion, the UNDP 2013 Inclusive Business Report under the theme “Realizing Africa’s Wealth-Building Inclusive Business for Shared Property,” was launched by Mr. Tomas Sales, Program Manager of UNDP AFIM. The development partners in attendance and the GoL also pledged at the end of the IFP to reconvene in 2014 to check on the progress of the local companies being supported and to assess the progress that had been made in implanting LASIP.

The conference was concluded by a networking cocktail that brought together, all stakeholders with the view to leverage public private partnership in agriculture and agribusiness in Liberia. Conclusion The inaugural CAADP investment facilitation platform and related public private dialogue was a universally commended initiative as it succeeded in, for the first time, assembling the countries major stakeholders in agriculture and agribusiness to deliberate on specific regional and national agricultural plans. The event witnessed the convergence of more than 150 stakeholders, some of whom, for the first time too, were exposed to the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), the Liberia Agriculture Sector Investment Plan (LASIP), and existing efforts from the government, private sector and development partners to support agribusiness development in Liberia. The occasion therefore presented a comprehensive assessment about the prospects and intricacies in the agriculture sector and agribusiness in Liberia and also highlighted the need for greater public and private collaboration required to achieve the desired industry growth results. An additional point worth noting was that the PPD and IFP development process helped stakeholders to discover 15 Liberian entrepreneurs in the agribusiness sector, and the event

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provided four of them with a very tangible investment plan, investment presentation and company/ project material that they showcased the IFP and can use to attract potential investors. This in itself was a unique achievement out of the process, because neither the MOA nor the NIC were aware of these entrepreneurs before the PPD and IFP. Out of the two day programme, however, a strong link was formed between the entrepreneurs and the GoL representatives attending and pledges were made for their continued support over the coming 12 months – with the intent of making them models of what the local private sector can do and become in Liberia. Thus, as a demonstration of its interest and commitment in promoting Liberian entrepreneurship in agribusiness, the GOL strongly pledged to directly mobilize support for these businesses and to link them to local and international investors. The 2-day inaugural CAADP event also highlighted three broader challenges confronting the implementation effort of agricultural programs in the country. The challenges included LASIP’s significant financing gap, inadequate infrastructure (roads, power, telecommunication, etc) and the relative lack of capacity among the local agricultural/ agribusiness community. These were all areas that development partners in attendance pledged to support. Next Steps The next steps in furtherance of CAADP and LASIP implementation in Liberia were agreed as follow:

1. The GOL in collaboration with its development partners and private sector counterparts will host another investment facilitation platform around the CAADP and LASIP immediately one year after this event;

2. The NIC, using the investment briefs and business plans presented by the four entrepreneurs, will lobby support at the upcoming Liberia Philanthropic Secretariat’s annual conference in the United States; and the

3. The development partners pledged to continue to engage the 15 entrepreneurs in providing capacity building support, linkages assistance as well as international exposures.