37th CFS Plenary Session, 17-22 October 2011, Rome
The CFS is the United Nations' forum for reviewing policies concerning world food. It is the most inclusive international and intergovernmental platform for all relevant stakeholders to work together to ensure food security and nutrition.
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Press Release No. 10/370
September 30, 2010
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Mr. Christopher Lane, visited Liberia September 21–October 1, 2010 to conduct discussions for the fifth review under the Extended Credit Facility and the 2010 Article IV Consultations.1 The mission met with: Minister of Finance, Augustine Ngafuan; Central Bank of Liberia Executive Governor, Joseph Mills Jones; other senior officials and members of the Legislature; representatives of the private sector, civic society, and development partners, and briefed President Johnson Sirleaf.
At the end of the mission, Mr. Lane issued the following statement in Monrovia:
25 August 2010, Tappita/Rome - Like most of her neighbors in Liberia's Nimba County, Elizabeth Roberts learned to cultivate rice from previous generations of subsistence farmers. She also learned that it was not unusual to lose much of the year's rice crop after harvest.
Liberia's farmers lose up to half of their annual rice crop to post-harvest losses resulting from pests and spoilage, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Getting more of Liberia's rice crop to market has been one of the challenges facing the country as it strives to cut its dependence on rice imports.
Through a local cooperative for women farmers, Roberts, 44, has become part of an ambitious national plan to boost the production, quality, durability and marketability of Liberia's rice crop.
26 August 2010, Monrovia/Rome - The fertile lowlands that cover one-fifth of Liberia are part of a European Union and FAO-supported plan to cut the nation's dependence on rice imports and improve the livelihood of vulnerable farmer families.
The Liberian government has prioritized the rehabilitation of swamps, especially those with damaged or abandoned rice fields, noting that lowland farms have the potential to yield up to 80-90 percent more rice than upland ones.
"In using more of our lowlands, not only will we get higher yields, we will also minimize deforestation and soil erosion," said J. Qwelibo Subah, Director-General of Liberia's Central Agricultural Research Institute, underlining the environmental benefit of his government's plan.
Press Release No. 10/267
June 29, 2010 - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) have decided to support US$4.6 billion of debt relief for Liberia, of which
US$1.5 billion is to be delivered by multilateral creditors and the remainder by bilateral and commercial creditors. 1 This was made possible in part by the exceptional efforts of members of the international community to finance debt relief for Liberia.
Press Release No.10/254
June 23, 2010 - The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved the fourth review of Liberia’s economic performance under its Extended Credit Facility (ECF) (formerly Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility) arrangement. The approval enables Liberia to draw an amount equivalent to SDR 4.44 million (US$6.55 million) immediately, bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to an amount equivalent to SDR 230.14 million (US$339.25 million). The SDR 239.02 million (about US$352 million) ECF arrangement for Liberia was approved by the Executive Board on March 14, 2008 (see Press Release No. 08/52).
Press Release No.10/157
19 April 2010 -- An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Mr. Christopher Lane visited Liberia April 5–19 to conduct discussions for the fourth review under the Extended Credit Facility1. The mission met with President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf; Minister of Finance, Augustine Ngafuan; Central Bank of Liberia Executive Governor, Joseph Mills Jones; other senior officials; representatives of the commercial and banking sectors, and development partners.
At the end of the mission, Mr. Lane, IMF Mission Chief for Liberia issued the following statement in Monrovia today:
BOMI COUNTY (LIBERIA), 4 February 2010 – The Government of Liberia with support from its partners – UNICEF, the European Commission and the Government of Japan – is launching the first cash transfer pilot scheme in Liberia to help reduce poverty, hunger and starvation in extremely poor and labor constrained households living in the pilot area and for children to realize their basic rights to education and nutrition.
The spike in food prices of last year (2008) underscored what experts have been telling us for many years: the world's food systems are in crisis