Liberia Rebuilding a Post-Conflict

Economy Through Exports

The Development Partner

for Export Success

An ITC Integrated Country Programme

Street address:

ITC, 54-56, rue de Montbrillant,

1202 Geneva, Switzerland

Postal address: ITC, Palais des Nations,

1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Telephone: +41-22 730 0111

Fax: +41-22 733 4439

Email: itcreg@intracen.org

Internet: http://www.intracen.org

As the joint technical cooperation agency of theUnited Nations Conference on Trade andDevelopment (UNCTAD) and the World TradeOrganization (WTO), the Geneva-basedInternational Trade Centre (ITC) adopts a twinapproach in living up to its mandate – exportimpact for good:

As part of the WTO, ITC helps

countries develop export trade

through a rules-based system in

order to generate income for business

and contribute to job creation. It is committed to

“inclusive globalization”, connecting the smallest

and most marginalized to international markets

as a means of addressing poverty and raising

livelihoods in a sustainable manner.

As a UN development organization,

ITC’s role is also to promote the

fulfilment of the Millennium

Development Goals, believing that

wealth generated by trade can be interdependent

with, and mutually reinforced by, social

development, the empowerment of women and

environmental protection.

The 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectivenesscalls for countries to take ownership of their owndevelopment, based on their historical, politicaland economic circumstances. Exports, as asource of foreign exchange and global purchasingpower, are an important means for countries torealise ownership of their developmentprocesses.

UNITED NATIONS

Front coverBack coverThrow out Back cover

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In June 2006, the Liberian Government invitedITC Executive Director Mrs. Patricia R. Francisand her Director of Technical Cooperation andCoordination, Mr. Siphana Sok, ITC to Monroviafor high-level consultations on the country’strade-related technical cooperationrequirements and on the broad elements of thedesign of a project for enhancing the tradeperformance of the country. They met with thethen Minister for Commerce and Industry, H.E.Ms. Olubanke King-Akerele, and the Ministerfor Gender and Development, H.E. Ms. Vabah K.Gayflor and their staffs. ITC technicalconsultants were then sent in to conductsupply-chain analyses for coffee, cocoa, spices,rubber, wood and crafts. These studies werepresented at the Liberia Trade DevelopmentForum held in Monrovia in June 2007 forpolicymakers, businessmen and importers toidentify “winner” products for export promotionunder a “quick-win” export-led povertyreduction project. The first “winner” was thespice market. This booklet describes in detail,

how the African Birds Eye Chilli project is

helping to launch ITC’s overall Trade and Export

Development Programme in Liberia.

The Birds Eye Chilli Project costs US$262,000.In all, ITC plans to spend US$3.2 million inLiberia between now and 2009. The project iscurrently being funded by a US$420,000 granton a bilateral basis from the Irish Government,and with US$660,000 from the rest through theGlobal Trust Fund, the US$6.6 million dollarcollection of donor funds from around theworld which is spent at the discretion of ITC.

1

Liberia experienced 14 years of civil war during1989 to 2003, a period marked by intensesustained political, economic and socialupheaval. GDP per capita, at 2005 prices,declined by 87 percent from US$1,269 in 1980to US$163, while exports fell from US$486million in 1978 to US$10.3 million in 2004. Allsectors experienced severe decline, especiallyagricultural production as the insecuritypushed people off of their farms.

Post-Conflict Recovery

Since the end of the civil war in 2003, therehave been signs of progress, includingsuccessful democratic elections held inNovember 2005. The economy has stabilisedand began to rebound with growth reaching 5.3percent in 2005. The new government ofPresident Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is trying toimplement a conflict-sensitive developmentstrategy which focuses on quick, measurableand visible progress as demonstrable resultsare needed to overcome the challenges fromthe legacy of war.

Given the relatively small size of its domesticmarket (3.5 million people), Liberia will need torely on exports to achieve the growth rates thatwould allow it to reduce poverty. Thegovernment has set for itself the goal todevelop, in the short-term, a National Tradeand Export Promotion Strategy that will helpfacilitate the creation of employment andattract direct foreign investment. This is to becomplemented with entrepreneurship

Liberia Rebuilding a Post-Conflict

Economy Through ExportsONE TO ONE TO MANY

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Entrepreneurship development: For theLiberian economy to grow, its enterprises mustdevelop internationally competitive productsand services. Given the high level of informalityof the Liberian economy, the challenge is toraise the ambitions of entrepreneurs to thinkabout trading globally and to give them thetools to compete effectively for markets andcapital. This will entail a change in mindset ofaspiring entrepreneurs who solely operate inthe informal sector and also calls forstrengthening local institutions of learning tooffer adequate training and support to aspiringentrepreneurs to develop bankable businessideas and plans. To achieve this, ITC will createan export-oriented entrepreneurshipdevelopment programme in partnership with aLiberian institution of higher learning orconsortia. The first step will be to organise a“training of trainers” for about 10 facultymembers of the partner organisation(s) so asto create a pool of human resources with theability to provide systematic support touniversity graduates and aspiring businesspeople. Upon completion of the training oftrainers, a group of about 20 promisingcandidates that have demonstrated theircommitment and drive to setting up orexpanding their new export oriented businessventures will be coached to refine theirbusiness plans and access the financingthrough the Entrepreneurship PromotionFacility set up by Ministry of Commerce andIndustry in cooperation with Eco Bank,Monrovia. Particular attention will be paid toempowering businesswomen and youngentrepreneurs

development initiatives aimed at empoweringLiberians to meaningfully participate in theireconomy. In the words of the PresidentJohnson-Sirleaf, the objective is to haveLiberians “once again take charge of theircommerce, take charge of their destiny”.

ITC applies a holistic and integrated approachto its technical assistance in Liberia throughbuilding trade capacity at three levels: (seecharts on page 16 for details).

Micro-level: Product-specific export

promotion for selected products with highincome and employment creation potential;

Meso-level: Enhancing the quality anddelivery of trade support services for SMEs inthe areas of entrepreneurship developmentand trade intelligence;

2 3

Trade intelligence: Lack of access to tradeintelligence poses challenges to Liberiangovernment ministries as well as existing andaspiring exporters in Liberia. This is a gap thatneeds to be filled to increase the chances ofsuccess of established as well as new businesses.There is no significant trade intelligenceinfrastructure in Liberia that provides the privateand public sectors with access to informationrequired to make optimal decisions on tradepolicy, export strategy or business transactions.The immediate goal is to build capacity within theMinistry of Commerce and Industry and theMinistry of Agriculture to monitor and evaluateprices of key import and export products. Thebusiness community will be able to access thisinformation by radio and mobile telephony, themost common forms of communication in Liberia.

Trade strategy and business advocacy for WTO

accession: The government has recently set up theLiberia Public-Private Dialogue (LPPD) as a formalmechanism to help create such an enablingbusiness environment. The LPPD has a number ofworking groups covering various sectors of theeconomy. ITC will help the Ministry of Commerceand Industry finalise the terms of reference of thework of Working Group on Trade of the LPPD andto provide technical inputs which will enable theGovernment to engage in the WTO accessionnegotiations. This process will introduce bestpractices on fostering business advocacy inLiberia. It will also help the private sector to makeuse of the opportunities and cope with thechallenges stemming from the internationaltrading system shaped by the WTO Agreements,regional and bilateral trading agreements.

Macro-level: Developing a national tradeand export promotion roadmap to support theGovernment’s efforts in improving Liberia’strade performance in general and particularlyin the up-coming WTO accession negotiations.

Product specific export promotion: As a steptowards restoring Liberia’s export capabilitiesand to ensure the buy-in from the public andprivate sector, this module is designed to kick-start the entire project by achieving tangibleexports for a selected number of products in thebriefest amount of time. The selected productsare chillies, coffee and cocoa. The design andimplementation of these product specificinterventions will draw on the experiences andlessons learned from similar activitiessupported by ITC under its export-led povertyreduction project (EPRP) for example in Kenyaand Sierra Leone.

“I challenge us to makeinternational trade meaningful…H.E. MS. Olubanke King-Akerele

Dialogueand

advocacy

Servingtrade

develop-ment

Tradeenvironmentimproved

Businessintegrated in trade

negotiations

ITC

Enterprises Policy-makers

Strategy formulationimproved

Supply-siderequirementsaddressed

Market shareincreased

Servingthe

businesssector

Trade supportinstitutions

Trademainstreamed

Businessservices

In practice: ITC’s Aid for Trade

in Liberia

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For Liberia, our integration into the worldeconomy, linking farmers, small businessesand entrepreneurs with external marketswill play a central role in our economicrevitalization. After 14 years of war, 80 percent of our population of 3.5 million lives onless than a dollar per day; only 20 per centare literate. Through trade we can give ourpeople an income. We can give them hope.So they may become strong stakeholders inthe peace-building process.

By March 2008 we will have our povertyreduction strategy in place which will includetrade and export promotion. TheInternational Trade Centre (ITC) in Geneva,the technical trade assistance agency of theUnited Nations and the World TradeOrganisation, has recently helped Liberia indeveloping a trade road map. And that mapshows that we need to strengthen capacity,establish institutional framework, empowertrade support institutions and to do this withthe private sector, so that from the word go,the private sector is an integral part of whatwe are about.

Implementing the programme

The implementation of the programme by theDivision for Foreign Trade of the Ministry ofCommerce and Industry (MCI), under theguidance of ITC Country Manager, Mr. RaminGranfar, will be used as an opportunity to boostthe wider export promotion capabilities of theministry through a process of learning bydoing. A core team (or unit) of tradeprofessionals will be created at the Division forForeign Trade of the Ministry. The team will beheaded by an experienced trade advisor andfour project officers, each responsible for oneof the four modules of the project.

The project will cover the costs of maintainingthe core team, including five MCI staff, for aperiod of three years. The core team will becoached by ITC throughout the duration of theproject. It is envisioned that within three years,this core team, will become a leading nationalexport promotion agency in Liberia. Some ofthe key activities of the core team will includeassessing the capabilities and needs of tradesupport institutions; participating in coachingmissions at ITC Headquarters; preparing,reviewing and updating Liberia’s Roadmap forTrade as well as monitoring and following-upon the implementation of the LEDP.

4 5

The ultimate focus of ITC’s work in Liberia is tohelp both policy makers and businessmen, tounderstand destination markets and to identifyopportunities for export success. This meansgauging what existing and potential consumerswant, and determining how to adapt anddemonstrate compliance with, and exertinfluence on, consumers. Through suchprogrammes and services, ITC aspires to be“The Development Partner for Export Success”.

H.E. MS. Olubanke King-Akerele

Minister for Foreign Affairs,(Former Minister of Commerce & Industry)Republic of Liberia

Increased trade has an equally important roleto play in solidifying peace in post-conflictsituations. In our case, in Liberia, the entireMano River Union Sub-region of Liberia,Sierra Leone, Guinea and the Côte d’Ivoire,are closely interconnected.

Just across our border in Sierra Leone, wesaw a success story there with the gingerexperience, where small scale farmerstrained by ITC were taught new approaches in terms of growing ginger, the net result ofwhich is that they are into the export markettoday. So we decided to go for what we callsome quick wins: approaches that brings itdown to the small people so that it meanssomething. With the assistance of ITC, wewere able to visit Sierra Leone and see whatthey were doing there. This was followed inJune 2007 with a series of supply-chainanalysis by ITC on coffee, cocoa, rubber, woodproducts, crafts, and spices. We came to theconclusion that we had an opportunity to grow spices.

“Mrs. Patricia R. Francis

Exective Director

Mr. Siphana Sok

Director

Mr. Ramin Granfar

Country Manager

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In July 2007, ITC held a training workshop for small-scale entrepreneurs and broughtwith them a committed spice buyer from theUnited Kingdom. This has since beenfollowed up by a month-long full scaletraining programme in September 2007 infour different parts of Liberia of 2,000 smallfarmers, many of whom are women, andextension workers from the AgricultureMinistry, with a new technology in terms ofgrowing chillies for exports. ITC also broughtwith them trainers – people who are doingsimilar things from Sierra Leone, Kenya,Uganda and the Ivory Coast – Africans whounderstand Africans. The net result is that bythe first half of 2008, Liberia will beexporting chillies into the internationalmarket.

6 7

Liberia was just admitted into AGOA inJanuary 2007 – the Africa Growth andOpportunity Act in the United States. The ITCChilli Project can be modified toaccommodate a range of agriculturalproducts which will allow us to takeadvantage of this special trade preference inthe world’s largest consumer market.

Now, here is what is significant about whatI’ve just said. We are bringing opportunity tothe small people; I’m talking about themarket women; the small farmers; all thosewho scrape by on a dollar a day or less; thesmall struggling businessmen in developingcountries around the world; the majority ofthe world’s population. I challenge us tomake international trade meaningful tothese individuals by leveraging trade toservice sustainable and equitabledevelopment. I challenge us to put ourrhetoric of equality into practice.

”1983-1987

Exports

US$Millions

450400350300250200150100

500

1983-1987Import

2001-2007Exports

2001-2007Import

Trade before and after the conflict

“We can give them hope. So theymay become strong stakeholdersin the peace-building process.H.E. MS. Olubanke King-Akerele

Farmer

Sam Reeves, age 50, is a cassava farmer fromBensonville, in Montserrado County. He and hisfamily live on less than $0.70 cents a day, whichis considered extreme poverty. If the project issuccessful, he should be able to increase hisincome to $3 dollars a day from his quarteracre of African Bird’s Eye Chilli production,which will take him above the poverty line.Says Reeves, “We have been working asindividuals to no avail, but we have been taughtthat if we work as a team we will make a betterchange to our lives." What does he plan to dowith the money he earns? “We will use it toextend the project and grow more.”

Distributor

Arjay Farms was established in 2000, on 300acres of land in Kingsville Township,Montserrado County, near the capital,Monrovia. Its owner-manager, Mrs. JosephineGeorge-Francis and her husband, Roger, runsone of the few food processing operations inLiberia. The farm is a small to medium sizeenterprise which employs 65 permanentworkers and 70 seasonal workers and had aturnover of US$12,216 in 2006. Arjay Farmsraises livestock and grows cassava, maize, rice,tubers, vegetables, pepper, cocoa, mango,plantain, banana, pineapple and other fruits,which it sells at local markets. They havemachinery to clean rice, produce gari, palm oiland coconut virgin oil. The farm has introducednon-acreage related activities such asbeekeeping and honey processing, soapmaking, drying and smoking meat and fish. Itplans to start sugar processing in early 2008for the production of jams, preserves and rum.Until it teamed up with ITC through the Ministryof Commerce and Industry, it had not had theopportunity to enter the export market.

Supply chain

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The key component of the training programme

is that both the extension workers and farmerswere taught by other Africans and people fromdeveloping countries, who had undergonesimilar political, economic and social conditionsin their own countries. Here, JonahChepkeitany from Kenya and JosephineGeorge-Francis from Liberia lead a class inWhite Plains, Montserrado County. The othertrainers came from Sierra Leone, Uganda, IvoryCoast, Jamaica and China. The project itself isa south-to-south experience. As BenMassaquoi, the facilitator from Sierra Leoneput it. “We have created a real African Union ofexpertise, people who are already abreast withthe problems, who know the conditions of thepeople, and who are eager to help.”

The Birds Eye Chilli Training Programme tookplace in September and October 2007 in 18locations in Bong, Grand Bassa, Lofa andMontserrado counties (see map on page 14). Inall, 2,100 farmers and 60 extension workersunderwent intensive training. The extensionworkers, who will oversee the programme,received 10 days of training on socialenterprise, facilitation, and technical trainingon production, preservation, storage, fieldmaintenance and fertilizer application. Eachgroup of farmers received 4 days of training intechnical and social enterprise skills. Theeventual goal of this programme, once it getspast the pilot stage, is to expand by 2,000 newfarmers a year.

8 9

Supply chain

Importer

Blair Coutts is the Director of Blair Impex Ltd,a two man British importing firm with aturnover of US$1 million in 2006, 80% of whichwas from the spice trade. He has been tradingspices since 1980, first with the firm of EvanGrey & Hood, and then as an entrepreneursince 1988. Coutts contends that with growingmulticultural urban societies in developedcountries, the world appetite for spices is goingup annually. Current global demand chilli ismore than 100,000 tons a year. He first met upwith ITC in 2005 when he was hired as aconsultant to advise Tanzanian spice farmerson the standards European importers wererequiring for their products. He was alsoinvolved with the first export of ginger from the ITC project in Sierra Leone. In June 2007,Coutts was invited on an ITC mission to Liberia,and after meeting government officials andagronomists there, committed to buying the

first container Birds Eye Chillies. Born in Kenya where his father ran a tea plantation, Coutts has strong emotional ties to Africa. He currently trades with Nigeria, South Africa,Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda andMadagascar. Asked why he was willing to makea commitment even before the first crop wasgrown, he replied: “Somebody has to stick their neck out. With any luck, it will be anongoing venture.”

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Training

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Gabriel Dennis, a local service facilitator forthe project gives Sam Reeves a 25 gram bag ofseeds of African Bird’s Eye Chilli, the sameamount given to each of the 2,100 farmers inLiberia. The seeds come from Kenya, whereITC started a similar project in 2002. They aresupplied to ITC for US$12,000 by JonahChepkeitany, an agronomist, who started outthere as a project facilitator and extensionofficer, but because of the growing demand forChilli farming, has since set up his own private-sector business with six of his colleaguescalled Legetetwet Farm Care. They now provideChilli seeds and training material on acommercial basis to farmers throughout Africa.

In addition to technical farming advice, the ITCprogramme emphasises social enterprise

skills. Working in local groups, farmers learnbetter, cheaper and easier ways of doing thingsfrom each other, thus enjoying economies ofscale in both production and procurement. Byorganising themselves, they are able to pooltheir resources and create a voice in themarket when it comes to negotiating prices fortheir crop. Above all, in working this way, thefarmers “own their actions” and gain selfconfidence to undertake their projectindependent of outsiders. From a training andon-going servicing point of view, working withgroups as opposed to individual farmers, onsuch things as nursery establishment incommon nurseries is a far most cost-effectiveway of transferring knowledge and regularlymeeting with extension workers.

Graduation day for an extension worker. Here,(name) receives her certification from RaminGranfar, ITC Country Manager for Liberia andone of the trainers, Nneka Morrison, an ITCconsultant from Jamaica. Out of the 2,160farmers and extension workers, nearly 450 arewomen. Empowering women is a vital part ofpoverty reduction which is the core element ofthe programme.

From Left to Right: Cecelia Tobo, Sam Reeves,Winifred Holder and Bill Onyae. Four of theeight members from Group A. They namedtheir group “Try and See”. In all, there are fourmen and four women in the group. Most of the200 other groups in the project have a similarcomposition. For the women, this is the firsttime they have ever been given the opportunityto farm and earn their own money. WinifredHolder says with a newly empowered voice,“What I earn from the soil, I can spend onschool fees for my children.”

10 11

“What I earn from the soil, I can spend on school fees for my children.Winifred Holder, farmer

Training Planting

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Processing

The Chillies will be gathered from collectionpoints in the four counties by Arjay Farms inKingsville Township, Montserrado County, nearthe capital, Monrovia. Arjay Farms will earnUS$2.50 per kilo of dried chillies from the firstconsignment price of US$4 per kilo, for theprocessing, bagging, loading and transportingthe consignment to the Port of Monrovia andshipping it to the UK. This first consignmentshould earn the farm about US$17,500.

Each 25 grams of seeds makes one bed of5,000 seedlings, enough to fill a quarter acre ofland. It takes six weeks for the seedlings togrow into plants which can then be replanted inthe farmer’s field. When fully grown, birds eyechillies should be red or dark orange in colourand a maximum of 2 cm in length. Their taste,which is measured in heat units (between50,000 – 150,000 SHU) is considered a highcapsaicin content. Liberia is an ideal place togrow African birds eye chilli because the cropgrows well in tropical regions from the coastallowlands to the lower midland zones, or 1500meters above sea level.

In this project, the seeds were planted inOctober and the seedlings were ready forreplanting at the end of November 2007. Theharvest season is from March to June 2008,during which the expected yield per quarteracre is up to 700 kilos of dried chilli. Thefarmer will earn US$1.50 per kilo (from thefirst consignment price of US$ 4 per kilo), or upto US$1,050 a harvest. The plant can be reusedfor three successive seasons before it loses itsheat and ceases to be commercially viable. It isworth noting that in 2002, Kenya startedproducing African Birds Eye chilli with 8kilograms of seed from Uganda. It nowproduces 8 times more than Uganda.

The whole fruit of the chilli, without the stem,needs to be well dried, but not brittle, with amaximum of 8% moisture content. It takes threedays to dry two tonnes of chilli. It is then packedin woven polypropylene bags of 20kg or 30kgeach. In all, 7,000 tonnes of dried chilli will needto be processed for the first consignment.Perhaps the most important role Arjay Farmsand the 60 extension workers from the Ministryof Agriculture will play will be in ensuringquality control that each bag of chillies meetsthe microbiological limits set by the EuropeanUnion. The biggest risk in exporting chillies is ifthey become susceptible to a common funguscalled Aflatoxin. It would automatically destroythe commercial value of the crop.

12 13

A 20 ft. container will be loaded with up to 7metric tonnes of dried chilli by Arjay Farms andshipped from the Port of Monrovia to the Portof Felixstowe near London where it will be offloaded, bought and warehoused by Blair ImpexLtd. for US$28,000, or US$4 a kilo, which wasthe world market price in June 2007. Fromthere it will be sold to large Indian cash-and-carry stores in Europe who will repackagethem in small clear plastic bags with locallabels so that the consumer can see the sizeand colour of the chilli. Arjay Farms isprojecting that after the first harvest in March2008, the farmers from the four countiesshould be able to fill 7 containers of driedchillies for export at current world marketprices, and that by the end of the harvest inJune 2008, they could fill 38 containers. Onceharvested and processed, the chilli crop willalso serve another purpose – supplying thedomestic market. Liberia currently importsaround US$2 million worth of chillies fromneighbouring countries which is a drain on itsalready depleted foreign currency reserves.

“We have created a real African Union ofexpertise…who know the conditions ofthe people, and who are eager to help.Ben Massaquoi, facilitator

Planting

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SIERRA

LEONEGUINEA

IVORY

COAST

Liberia

14 15

Lofa County 300 Farmers, 15 Extension WorkersBeyan Town, Gorlu, Salayea

Bong Country 300 Farmers, 10 Extension WorkersTotata, Sanoyea, Palala

Montserrado County 1200 Farmers, 25 Extension WorkersTodee, Kingsville, Atington

Grand Bassa County 300 Farmers, 10 Extension WorkersLloydssville, Gorbin, Gbaseegaih

Monrovia

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16

Policy

Makers

Trade

Support

Institutions

Enterprises

1. Trade Strategy –developing a NationalRoadmap for Trade Development.

Agreement & prioritization –Formulation and adoption of aNational Roadmap for TradeDevelopment

• National Trade and Export Roadmap formulated, including: (a) Current situation of Liberia assessed(b) Product/Sector situation assessed(c) Value chain analysis applied, resulting in critical success factorsidentified and value options assessed for each of the key sectors(d) Essential trade support services reviewed(e) Institutional resources between public and private sectorsassessed(f) Priorities specified

• Framework for managing,implementing and monitoring the Roadmapestablished

Formulation and adoption/ endorsement of thenational roadmap for trade development designedand adopted

Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MCI)

• Guide the formulation process and the adoption of the NationalRoadmap for Trade Development

Liberia Public-Private Dialogue and ITC: Assist the crafting of theLiberia National Roadmap for Trade

2. WTO Accession – familiarization of MCIwith the best practices in setting up andmaintaining an effective dialogue betweenthepublic and private sectors in preparationfor WTO accession negotiations.

Strengthening the effectiveness ofconsultations between the private andpublic sector on WTO accessionnegotiation issues

• Familiarization of MCI staff with relevant best practices• Strengthening the role of the Liberia Public private dialogue (LPPD) on

Trade in the context of WTO accession negotiations

• Increased consultations between MCI and LPPDWorking Group on Trade

MCI:

• Guide and assist the formulation process and the adoption of theNational Roadmap for Trade Development

ITC: Help define the terms of reference of Working Group on Trade.Introduce best practices in the functioning’s of the group for optimaldecision making in the area of trade negotiations.

3. Strengthening the capability of MCI tomanage trade and export developmentprogrammes.

MCI will have sufficient capability toinitiate, plan, execute, follow-up on,and evaluate trade developmentprogrammes and strategies

• The Liberia Trade Development Programme (LTPD) designed • A core team (unit) of trade development professionals within MCI• Work plan for full-fledged LTPD finalized and a network of potential

collaborators for its implementation created

• LTDP adopted• Core team of five trade development officers at

the Trade Division of Foreign Trade of MCIfunctional and fully integrated with the Ministry

• The remaining 5 modules of this programmesuccessfully implemented by the newly createdcore team established under this module at theDivision of Foreign Trade

MCI: Lead the process of building the core team oftrade and export development professionals within the its Division ofForeign Trade ITC: Provide coaching to the core team on best practices in exportpromotion

4. Trade Information – providing access toand training in the use of trade informationtools to MCI.

Establishment of basic reliable trade information service at MCI whichis useful for the promotion of tradeand export

• Trade information service development plans established for MCI andendorsed by relevant stakeholders

• MCI offering an effective information service that meets the informationneeds of its internal and external clients

• Familiarizing stakeholders with the “Trade at Hand” service

• The services of the trade information servicesought by the business community

MCI: Lead the process of setting up a trade information serviceITC: Provide coaching to the staff of the trade information centre

5. Implementing demonstration projects forselected products with immediate exportdevelopment potential.

Sustainable increase in exports forselected products

• Supply studies on coffee, cocoa, rubber, wood, spices and crafts prepared• Liberia Trade Development Forum held to validate the findings of the

abovementioned studies• “Quick-win” demonstration project designed and successfully

implemented involving about 6,000 farmers over the period 2007-09) • Approximate number of participants to reach 6-7,000 farmers by 2009

• Identifying “winner” products and destinationmarkets and level interest and sharing amongtrainers and participants

MCI: Assisting in the planning, coordination, implementation andfollow-up of demonstration projects and related activities Ministry of Agriculture: Provide technical training through theMinistry’s network of extension workersITC: Incorporating Liberia in the Export Production and SocialEnterprise Network with other African countries

6. Entrepreneurship Development –establishing an enterprise exportcompetitiveness programme for universitygraduates or aspiring entrepreneurs.

Increase in basic enterprise exportreadiness and export competitiveness

• Selection and recruitment of trainers and participants• Training and follow-up conducted

• Programme syllabus identified and sensitizationof university graduates and aspiringentrepreneurs

MCI:

Lead the sensitization, selection, and coordination ofparticipants to benefit from the entrepreneurship developmentprogrammeITC:

Provide coaching to the Liberian business consultantsand their students

Programme Planning Framework for

Liberia Trade and Development Programme 2007-2009

Level Programme module Programme outcomes Programme outputs Output indicators,baselines and targets Role of partners

Credits

Written and edited by Samuel Passowof the Conflict Analysis ResearchCentre at the University of Kent.Photos by Samuel Passow, RichardHenries, International Trade CentreLiberian paintings by Lawson B. SworhDesigned by Lesley Farr, the Universityof Kent Design & Print Centre

Inside Back cover Throw out Back cover

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