LIBERIA: Urban gardens to boost food security

MONROVIA, 19 January 2010 (IRIN): Farmers are turning to urban gardens as a way to boost food security in Liberias Montserrado County, where just one percent of residents grow their own produce today compared to 70 percent before the war.

Some 40 percent of Liberias population lives in the capital, Monrovia – located in Montserrado – after years of fighting sparked rural communities to move to the city. Many new arrivals had no access to land and have crowded into slums.

Over half of Monrovias residents live on less than one US dollar (5,20 DKR) a day, according to the World Bank.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is targeting 5.000 urban residents of Montserrado, Bomi, Grand Bassa, Bong and Margibi counties, to encourage them to start market gardens or increase the amount of fruit and vegetables they grow on their farms. Participants had to have access to tools and some land.

The aim is to improve food security and nutritional status while boosting incomes, said project coordinator Albert Kpassawah.

Participants in the project in this extremely poor West African country told IRIN they plant hot peppers, cabbage (kål), calla, tomatoes, onions, beans and ground nuts.

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