By Bill W. Cooper
In support of the Weah-Taylor administration’s vision for agriculture, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), in collaboration with partners, has brought immense joy and prosperity to local farmers in Bong County, following their grant intervention.
The intervention by the MoA and partners is under its Smallholder Agriculture Transformation and Agribusiness Revitalization Project (STAR- P) and Rural Economic Transformation Project (RETRAP).
Furthermore, the joint effort by the MoA and partners has since yielded positive results, revolutionizing the agricultural sector in the region and significantly impacting the lives of those involved.
STAR-P and RETRAP are supported by the World Bank and the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), as through this collaboration, the farmers in Bong County have witnessed remarkable improvements in their livelihoods, prompting smiles to grace their faces.
With funding from IFAD, the STAR Project is focused on providing agricultural financing, institutional capacity building, enabling environment for farmers, agribusinesses, state, and non-state actors, as well as enhancing productivity and competitiveness.
The RETRAP project, also funded by the World Bank, seeks to develop or enhance competitiveness and market access through productive alliances, as well as strengthening Agri-marketing and engaging in road infrastructure investments.
Both STAR-P and RETRAP are being implemented across the 15 counties with a combined target of 98,000 beneficiaries in the cassava, oil palm, rice, rubber, piggery, poultry, and vegetable and rice value chains.
One of the key focuses has been on providing farmers with access to quality seeds, modern farming techniques, and necessary resources, equipping them with the right tools and knowledge, aimed to optimize their productivity and increase their crop yields.
Speaking with one of the beneficiaries, Fuamah District Multipurpose Cooperative Society (FDMCS) in Bong County, Agriculture Minister, Jeanine Cooper, disclosed plans by the MoA and partners to make the FDMCS key farm increase domestic rice production.
This, she maintained, “This support is not just the contribution of the projects of the Ministry, but it is the involvement of all of our partners. It is the Rice Offensive Initiative that aims to invest more into rice production to reduce importation.”
According to Minister Cooper, her administration, together with the partners, is doing all it can to support the farmers to produce more rice for the market, disclosing that farmers have been supported with seeds and equipment to produce more rice in Liberia.
She asserted, “We are supporting the farmers with machines to increase production. We want to put one million bags of rice on the market this farming season and beyond, for the common good of the citizenry.”
Minister Cooper, however, further revealed that about 125 smallholder farmers and agribusinesses have so far been approved for grants, under its Liberia Agriculture Commercialization Fund (LACF).
LACF has been set up under component two of both projects, to ensure that smallholder farmers and other members of the value chains increase agricultural productivity and commercialization.
Earlier, the FDMCS chairman, Prince D. Peter, described the intervention of the MoA and partners through the marching grants as a relief package, noting that it has enabled them to expand production from 100 hectares to 500 this farming season.
According to him, the projects provided them with cash for work, and inputs such as fertilizers and tools, to expand production, and said, “The quick impact project provided us with cash for work that enabled us to cultivate 500 hectares.”
“Since the end of the civil crisis and in the history of the cooperative, this is the first time we have been able to expand production in such a manner, and since the establishment of the cooperative, we can only boast of vast swampland but production is always low because the field is not irrigated and inputs are limited,” he added.
Peter further revealed that the MoA is in the process of approving US$200,000 that will further enhance their production capacity, enabling them to become one of Liberia’s biggest rice processors in the country.
