Sustainable and Healthy Food for All

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Back on the Farm.

Food insecurity: When people lack secure access to sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food for an active and healthy life. May be caused by the unavailability of food, insufficient purchasing power, inappropriate distribution or inadequate use of food.

Under nutrition: A state in which the physical function of an individual is impaired to the point where he or she can no longer maintain natural bodily capacities.

Soil fertility: The ability of a soil to sustain plant growth by providing essential plant nutrients and favorable chemical, physical, and biological characteristics as a habitat for plant growth.

People need food. People need food in terms of getting the right nutrition. They need food. You know, it’s a basic necessity. So you cannot go wrong in agribusiness. All you have to do is find the right problem and find the right solution because from that, you’ll be able to sell your products. You don’t need to be on the ground, you know, tilling the land or milking some cow for you to be in agribusiness. It’s all about having the right business skills, working with the farmer and helping them make the right produce and then, you know, adding value to the product and selling it to the market.

Twenty-four million more people suffered from undernourishment on the continent in 2016 than years previous, according to a 2017 report from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

I think it starts from the entrepreneur, having the right leadership skills. And then from there, helping the young people, you know, look for the right kind of farmers and how they can help the farmer make the right product.

“I wondered why we are struggling in term of food security in Liberia.

Despite starting the first decade of the 21st century strong with a 10 percent drop in the number of people suffering from undernourishment, food insecurity is still a major issue for Liberia. Liberia spends about $25 million annually on food importation. Here is the catch: Vast majority of the people in Liberia makes their living through agriculture activities, yet the Government spends much importing food? This tells you that something is wrong somewhere. It is indicative of an imbalance in the system.

Liberia lacks the value change in agriculture. It will take many people working along the agricultural value chain to change the imbalance system Liberia is face with now.

Some may suggest that the government: Increase family earnings to maintain full, balanced diets.

Produce staple crops that are more nutritious

Raise poultry on vegetable farms to improve soil fertility

Soil degradation is quite rampant in most farming areas. The soil is not quite fertile.”

I wondered how many Liberian are involved into these activities. I believe that the methods to produce food should be sustainable so that future generations can continue to farm successfully.

“Having enough food for today and tomorrow, the next generation is food security.”

THE AGRIBUSINESS VALUE CHAIN

PRODUCERS

PROCESSORS

PACKAGERS

DISTRIBUTORS

MARKETERS

RETAILERS

CONSUMERS

The Agricultural Value Chain

What is a value chain? A value chain is the full range of activities that are necessary to bring an agricultural product from the farm to the consumer.

Where do you fit along the value chain? Agriculture is more than farming, and there are many ways to be involved. Between producers and consumers, there are a variety of intermediaries that can enhance and improve the value of a product. These intermediaries can include suppliers, brokers, transporters, wholesalers, manufacturers, packagers, sellers, policymakers, and researchers. There is something for everyone along the value chain!

21st Century Agriculture Technology plays an important role at all points along the value chain because by increasing the availability of technologies there is an opportunity to enhance systems, leading to higher productivity, more efficient operations, increased worker safety, and reduced environmental impact that contributes to a more sustainable business.

Growth: a simple word that in a few weeks can determine the vitality of a plant, ecosystem or business. I believed that without a viable agriculture system, communities will fail to grow crops. I have developed my love of nature through my many adventures. One being the two
week’s trip I make to Free Town, Sierra Leone that became the catalyst for my current profession. In my position as Executive Director, I want to highlights many of the opportunities agribusiness can have for young people, a field that can shape the lives of millions.

Food security, one of the many objectives I strives for, is something I believes many young people need skills in agribusiness, an issue they should get involved with. In order for Liberia to be food secure, Liberia need to improve her agricultural production, strengthen the resilience of the agricultural sector to help guard against shocks that could lead to famine, and work with farmers and to increase their capacity. Agripreneurs, as they’re called, are shaped by organizations like the Liberia Agriculture Development Activities (LADA) and Liberia network on the right to food. “Food is life,” I tend to say as a way to reaffirm my message: Feeding people is important.

There are so many opportunities in agribusiness. If you find the right farmers, if you have the passion for it, if you find the right problem and, you know the right solution, you can make the different as I said, you cannot, and people cannot go without food.

I think it’s important for young people to engage in agribusiness, because as I said before, food is life. You know, people cannot go without food. I know a lot of young people who feel that agriculture is boring because they think they have to go to a farm and start tilling the land and all that. But then looking at agriculture and agribusiness, there are two different aspects. Agriculture is basically you going to the land and tilling and milking and stuff. Agribusiness is basically taking agriculture skills but making it more commercial, turning it into a business aspect. So you can be an entrepreneur in agribusiness, have the knowledge, but then you can also work with farmers, the people who are actually on the ground who do the actual work. And basically, as a young person, if you have the passion for entrepreneurship, you have the passion for business, you can utilize your skills to help those farmers and then turn your idea into a business.

So, in our organization we provide training for entrepreneurs in agribusiness — trainings on marketing, and other different trainings which help them to add value to the products that they gain from the farms.

So we help our members in terms of how to produce those products in an efficient and effective manner. We also help them to brand, like how they can learn to brand the product, what kind of right packaging would be ideal for the consumer.

So if any entrepreneur needs more farmers, they go to the farmers that they have right now and the kind of crops they produce, and talk to the other farmers that are within those cooperatives. So in that way, they’re able to work with more farmers, they’re able to help more farmers to connect them to the market that they’re working with.

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