By Bill W. Cooper
In fulfillment of President George M. Weah’s recent call for the citizens to return to soil, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) has announced the commencement of a three-day National Agricultural Fair (NAF) slated for February 12-14, in Gbarnga City, Bong County.
The MoA whose responsibility is to ensure the production of food for every Liberians is mandated and required by law to host an annual NAF aimed at showcasing and promoting the agricultural sector of Liberia.
Making the disclosure at her MoA office at the Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, Agriculture Minister Janice Cooper stated that this year’s NAF is straightly in accordance with the Liberian leader’s recent declaration stressing the need for every Liberians to grow what they eat and eat what they grow.
Minister Cooper, among other things, intoned that this year’s fair will set the tone and tenor on the government’s national quest to give the ordinary citizens the necessary opportunity to improve their lives as well as setting them on the road of prosperity and development in line with the government developmental agenda, the PAPD.
According to her, the three-day event will also help provide a space for dialogue about the sector including highlighting agricultural education and training, showcasing its investment and interventions as well as provide a platform for farmers to showcase their produce.
She added, “It will also help provide a space for the sector networking, Agribusiness products exhibitions and enterprise launches, celebrations of farmers’ achievements including highlighting-mainstream agricultural activities and the attracting of investors’ interest.”
“The NAF is also a platform for the government and its partners to announce new initiatives, new projects and investments in the sector and celebrate the successes of past initiatives and provide insight on major policy narratives and decisions,” Minister Cooper explained further.
The MoA boss further revealed that this year’s NAF will bring face-to-face President Weah and other actors in the sector that includes farmers, Agribusiness Entrepreneurs and Enterprises, Innovators, Agricultural Students, Development Partners, Financial Institution’s, Agriculture Sector Associations among others to enable the lowliest farmers engage directly at the highest level of the agricultural sector of governance.
However, Minister Cooper averred that this year’s NAF is being organized by a secretariat composed of Agricultural technocrats and officers, under the able stewardship of the MoA Deputy Minister for Administration, Precious Tetteh with funding from the government through the Agriculture Ministry and not donor partners like was done in past years.
She pointed out that the MoA is also planning the event in collaboration with other line ministries and agencies, notably, the Ministry of State (MoS), the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection (MGCSP) and CDA, along with input from various actors and partners in the Agricultural Sector.