In recent times following the civil war, reconstruction programs of perestroika proportions have engulfed Liberia. Various development organizations are now working in the country to enhance its chances of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

According to the MDG monitor (www.mdgmonitor.org), Liberia is off-track in its march towards the attainment of MDG1 target of halving poverty by 2015. To support efforts aimed at reversing this trend, ASNAPP has commenced an aggressive project in the plant product sector in that country. This is in partnership with several other development organizations supporting the reconstruction efforts of the government and people of Liberia. Some UN-affiliated organizations, US and UK based development agencies have their development footprints in the country, an exciting mix for development work in a country which perhaps became the primus inter pares of African countries ravaged by civil conflict in recent memory.

A Dutch development organization, ICCO along with ARD Inc/USAID is supporting ASNAPP’s natural plant product development efforts in that country. Under this project ASNAPP has trained farmers from the Sinoe and Nimba counties in good agricultural practices, and is working with local partners in the collection of natural products for sale to the international markets. Visibly amazed by the amount of money that a collector family of Grifffonia seeds could raise, Dr. Samuel N. Koffa, a Senior Research Scientist to the ARD Inc Liberia program exclaimed, "this could generate enough for money for a family to purchase all the rice they would need for a month!". ASNAPP has raised several seedlings for cultivation by the farmers in an effort to ensure sustainability and promote the businesses of emerging entrepreneurs involved in the program.

    

Led by its research scientists and partners from the Rutgers University, ASNAPP is working at improving the quality of selected plant products found in the country to support their use as commercial products. With a strong scientific foundation, markets and quality assurance training, Liberia’s natural plant industry should bounce back to benefit its teeming unemployed youth.

In Liberia when perestroika happens, the civil war stops and development begins!