Just returned from a 2-day trip to Liberia's second largest city, Buchanan. Buchanan is located in Grand Bassa county. It's a (bumpy) 3-hour drive from Monrovia.
Kimmie, Oliver and I ventured to Buchanan where YAI has a sub-office and is preparing to implement two projects: a computer literacy program and an agricultural training project for youth. Our Bassa Liaison Officer, Emmanuel, guided us during our trip and helped with Bassa-English translations.
(above: With Emmanuel)
The computer lit program is pretty much set. The computer lab will be in our sub-office and will start up once we ship the computers over this summer.
The agricultural program, however, is still in the planning stages. We visited various sites in Bassa to scope out the public lands available and figure out which area would be most suitable for our project. We're looking for about 100 acres.
Liberia's food production situation was just another of the country's countless war victims. The country is a major exporter of rubber but as far as consumable goods go, Liberia produces mostly rice, cassava, peppers, cocoa, coffee, palm nuts, banana, mango, yam, eddoes, pumpkin, and ground nuts. It rains at least 7 months out of the year. There are vast amounts of rich, fertile land. Still, ironically, Liberia imports about 95% of its consumable goods.
It goes without saying that development of the agricultural sector is therefore one of the country's major objectives. It's certainly a major concern for the youth of Grand Bassa and, therefore, a concern for Youth Action International.
While there, Kimmie, Oliver and I met with the District Land Commissioner's office, an agricultural expert, local farmers, and the elders of one of the towns we were considering using. We also visited another agricultural project site organized by the Bassa Youth Caucus, an umbrella organization for all youth groups in Grand Bassa. We're considering collaborating with the BYC or at least liaising with them as we design this project.
(left: The BYC Farm. They grow cassava and corn.)
(above: With the elders, local land commissioner and district representatives of Tubmanville (about a 30-minute drive from Buchanan).
(right: Kimmie with some curious kids at one of the land sites.)
Now, we're back in Monrovia and it's time to put together a budget and proposal for donors. I pray we get the funding for this project.
The youth we met with in August were so eager for more agricultural programs and considering the viability of the lands we saw, it would be a serious shame if missed out on this opportunity to help them change their circumstances.
