The ITC in collaboration with the MCI and Ministry of Agriculture in June of 2007 hosted the Liberia Trade Development Forum where results of value chain supply studies on cocoa, coffee, rubber/wood, crafts and spices were presented to the ITC, Government and other international partners. At the forum, there were commodities buyers from Europe who came to take advantage of the opportunities available to open export links with Liberia.

The ITC hosted a workshop in September 2007, to train 60 local extension workers as Trainers of Trainers (TOTs) who later trained 2,100 small farmers to produce the African Birds Eye chilies. The 60 Extension Workers were selected by the MCI, MOA and ITC and were later trained by 20 international Facilitators from: Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Canada, Jamaica, Cote I’voire, and Sierra Leone at the Methodist Retreat Center in White Plains, Montserrado County.

After the training workshop in White Plains, the 60 trained extension workers were dispatched to the four counties (Bong, Montserrado, Lofa and Bassa) where training programs were held for the farmers and subsequently, the process leading to the planting of the chilies began.

Pending Activities

• The inclusion of ground nuts, pineapple, and cow peas into the product line of the project.
• The inclusion of additional 854 small farmers in the new to bring the total numbers of farmers in the ITC Project to 1400.