Project Summary

Project General Description

The Project is supporting the development of Liberia Special Agro Industrial Processing Zone located in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County1. In particular, the project will provide the external infrastructure required to prepare and secure the Agri Hub for private sector developer and additional private sector investments in agro industrial factories. The project will provide technical assistance towards the establishment of the Liberia Special Economic Zone Authority and support the development of requisite skills and agricultural value chain capacity to ensure competitiveness, productivity, and inclusivity in Agro Industrial Development. The Government of Liberia (GoL) is focused on developing the Liberia SAPZ to attract private sector investments into agro industrial park to enhance a much-desired agricultural transformation of the country, create jobs, boost exports, and stem rural urban migration trends while reducing the urban and rural poverty gap. The Project Feasibility Studies covering the Agri Hub located in Buchanan, and three Agricultural Transformation Centers located in Bong, Nimba and Cape Mount Counties were carried out as a collaborative effort between the GoL, and the AfDB. The Reports were completed in 2019 and presented to Stakeholders and government in February 2021.

Project Objectives

Expected project outputs include i) Establishment of the Liberia Special Economic Zone Authority, (ii) Site Grading, Land Plotting/Development, (iii) Construction of perimeter fencing (AH), (iv) Construction of external (approach) road, (v) Provision of Link to power/energy source, (vi) Market branding and Hosting of investment promotion events, (vii) Construction of Agricultural Transformation Centers (1 nos) and Aggregation Centers (1 nos), (viii) Capacity building along the value chains for Farmer Groups, Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and youth-led startups, (ix) Development of an ecosystem of quality and demand driven technical skills for agro industrialization, (x) Provide Technical Assistance to SEZA for the competitive selection of a Developer for the SEZ/SAPZ Park in Buchanan. The Project will be implemented over five years (2022-2026) at a cost of UA 11.31 million (including in kind contribution UA 1.2 million comprising office space, personnel emoluments, and utilities from the Government of Liberia). The Project Implementation Unit (PIU) will be hosted at the Liberia National Investment Commission and will report to the SEZ Coordination Committee.

Beneficiaries

The project will benefit, directly, farming households and communities, the youth, women, agribusiness MSMEs and staff of related public institutions. The project will also benefit, indirectly, rural populations in the coverage areas. Through linkages to agro-processing firms in the Liberia SAPZs, about 130,000 farming households in farmer groups, within the Agri Hub and ATC catchment area in the Counties will benefit from improved access to organized markets, and motivation to increased productivity, reduced post-harvest losses, as well as more predictable and increased incomes arising from better price discovery. The key commodities of focus are rice, cassava, oil palm, coffee, cocoa, rubber, fruits and vegetables, and aquaculture.

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