As part of efforts to improve the quality of food on the Liberian market, a Policy Dialogue on Food Processing Equipment was held at the Liberia Chambers of Commerce on Wednesday, August 7, 2024.
With funding from the Embassy of Sweden, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is implementing the GROW-2 technical cooperation project to increase income and employment opportunities by developing MSMEs in key Agro-based value chains in Liberia.
GROW-2 support covers interventions aimed at fostering production, processing, value addition and market access.
This one-day policy dialogue on food processing equipment is designed to raise awareness and engage stakeholders about the risks of using inadequate grade processing equipment.
Its primary goal is to enhance understanding of the importance of food-grade processing equipment, foster compliance with best practices, and encourage active participation in the implementation and improvement of relevant policies.
The outcome of the dialogue among other things is to identify stakeholder positions, reveal the perspectives of different stakeholders (government, industry, consumers etc.) on the key challenges identified in the LISA assessment. This could include disagreements and areas of common ground.
Also, to identify Priority Actions, a consensus on the most pressing issues in Liberia including the food processing sector, with proposed actionable steps for addressing these challenges.
At the dialogue, potential partnerships and stakeholders were able to identify opportunities for collaboration in tackling the challenges.
Speaking at the dialogue, the Director General of the Liberia Standard Authority (LISA) Kansualism Berk Kansual praised Grow-2 and the UNIDO organization for the initiative adding that it is tied to President Joseph Boakai’s ARREST Agenda.
“If you look at the ARREST Agenda agriculture is one of the key components. Recently, the government issued what we call a ” feel yourself agenda. I know most of the SMEs and the MSMEs have interest and will ensure that they have access,” Kansual said.
The Director General of LISA also promised to work with Liberian businesses that are involved with the processing of food to help alleviate some of the challenges in food processing.
Director Kansual added: “Working with them is very key to the Liberia Standard Authority because we believe very strongly most of the food processing equipment they are using -like some of the assessment reports we have seen, they are challenged so it is good that this kind of policy dialogue is organized to enlighten them on some of the food processing equipment they are using.”
Dans Johnson is UNIDO Value Chain Expert. He said the project is looking at cassava and cocoa as the mean value chain.
According to Johnson, the project has two outcomes. The first outcome he says is the accelerated development of selected value chains that leads to enhanced market access.
The second outcome, Johnson says, will create a conducive environment to enhance the market, something he says inclusive of policy, dialogue, demand base, and service capacity.
“The project he says is a five-year program which started in December 2022 and will end in December 2027. Our target groups are farmers living in poverty, composed of men, women, and youths in rural areas,” Johnson said.
Patrick Blamo is an expert at the LISA. Making a presentation from a 24-page document, Blamo said he and his team had the privileges to visit some of the SMEs and that the data they gathered was similar to the data they gathered some two to three years ago.
“That tells us that the gap still exists, and it sends a strong signal to us that there is a whole lot we have to do as a country,” Blamo said.
