Liberia - Scaling up the participation of SMEs in the secondary wood processing industry (Phase II)

This intervention concerns the scaling up the participation of SMEs in the secondary wood processing industry (Phase II). This project serves as a second phase to the capacity building phase that ended in June 2022. It aims to promote the private sector participation in secondary wood processing for inclusive green growth, employment and economic diversification. Looking at Forestry and fragility mitigation, unlike agricultural production that requires extensive labour and time, utilization of many forest resources is often less time consuming. Secondary wood processing is identified by this project as good entry point for youth involvement because of the potentials for marketing and value chain development through the enhancement of the business and leadership skills of local furniture makers and carpenters. The project will help develop secondary processed wood products and will provide small equipment supports to user groups to successfully manage and market them. Given the current active level of youth participation in the rudimentary wood processing sector in Liberia, they will benefit greatly. The Project will address fragility and build resilience. The project comprises two main components namely: (i) organization, support of local producers and (ii) project management, coordination and support.