LIBERISK - Feasibility study for PA4RM for investment to improve access to agricultural risk information for meso-level stakeholders in Liberia

Promote for PARM (IFAD's Plateform for Agricultural Risk Managment http://p4arm.org/) low-cost, user-friendly and timely information services. Our experience leads us to defend that the information tool developed for farmers and stakeholders of agricultural value chain must be adapted to the context, the demand and the skills of the final users. We see technology as a tool but not as an end in itself.

• The 1st goal of the feasibility study is to describe the supply and demand of agricultural information in Liberia
• The 2nd goal of the feasibility study is to propose investments to improve the dissemination of agricultural information (mainly on weather, pest and market) and to design an investment plan for the Ministry of Agriculture of Liberia and IFAD

A1. Identify the public and private stakeholders involved and/or likely to be involved in production and dissemination of useful information for Agricultural Risk Management, including weather, pest/diseases and market information
A2. Meet the public authorities in charge of agriculture, trade and transport, international organizations (including IFAD), NGOs active in agriculture and the leaders of Farmer Organizations based in Monrovia
A3. Identify 3 distinct rural areas where we will meet extension services, local farmer organizations and agricultural inputs providers to have a large picture of the current availability of information, the priority demand of information, and the skills of meso-level stakeholder in using information and communication technologies
A4. Meet representative of Mobile Operators to understand their strategy to increase use of mobile phone in rural areas and to see if they could be involved in the Action Plan