The Civil Society Oil Palm Working Group wants the National Oil Palm strategy reflects the true interest of smallholder Liberian farmers in the oil sector.
Members of the Civil Society Oil Palm Working Group said though the document is strong, it must be drawn from a Liberian perspective to add value and help build the Country’s economy.
They argued that the strategy should not be mainly Concession driven with a focus on the International market.
They praised the National Oil Palm Platform of Liberia (NOPPOL) for its desire to work with the various stakeholders regarding the development of the Country’s National Oil Palm Strategy.
The observation was Wednesday August 19, 2020 at a one-day dialogue on the draft Oil Palm Strategy of Liberian involving the Civil Society Oil Palm Working Group.
The dialogue was organized by the National Oil Platform of Liberia (NOPOL) in collaboration with the Civil Society Oil Palm Working Group and facilitated by the Sustainable Development Institute.
It was intended to solicit the CSOs inputs, comments and recommendations to improve the draft National Oil Palm Strategy of Liberia.
The August 19 engagement is part of series of dialogues that are expected to be conducted on the improvement of the draft strategy.
During the program, the draft strategy was unveiled through a power point presentation by NOPOL’s Coordinator Mr. Galah Toto to enable participants have an understanding of the document before making inputs.
The objectives of the dialogue was focus on strengthening an inclusive and broad Civil Society and citizen participation in influencing the design and implementation of the National Oil Palm strategy, as well as, strengthening citizen-led and social accountability mechanisms; promoting cooperation and harmonization between CSOs and Networks on working on common issues identified in the strategy.
The COS-working Group as part of the discussion agreed to hold consultations with two communities in Western and Southeast Liberia as a means of soliciting the inputs of the locals on the draft National oil palm strategy that would reflect the interest of all.
This story is an initiative of Journalists for the Protection of Nature (JPN-Liberia) in partnership with Liberia Public Radio.
