Foreign Affairs Minister, D. Maxwell Kemayah has rated the three days National Agriculture Fair as a success as a disable group of farmers gets the chief farmer’s award of US$10, 000.
President George Weah along with his wife, First Lady Clar Weah were very impressed by the level of work being carried out by the New Hope Agriculture Project located in Yoder District and offered them the President and family award at the Fair.
The Fair which was held at the heel of President Weah’s first nation wide tour since his ascendancy was held under the Theme, ‘Investing in Agriculture for Prosperity and Development’ witnessed the convergence of several farmers in CARI, the off-sketch of Gbarnga in Bong County from February 12-14 to showcase their various farm produce as well as Liberian made products made by local NGOs in the country.
Min. Kemayah who proxied for President Weah who had competiting priorities told farmers during a town hall engagement at the Administration Building in Gbarnga on yesterday that there are recognizes challenges in the sector which range from getting finance, capacity building, marketing and now land.
Ge eplained that the Weah-led administration remains unwavering to the value chain approach relating to agriculture and is looking at this approach from a holistic viewpoint if the government is to realize the intended objective.
He outlined seeds and planting materials as the viable assets to farming and assured that the government is taking that as a cardinal issue to address including storage which will assist with preservation.
“There can be no vibrant result in the agricrulture sector if there is no storage. The rural areas must to considered because processing is very difficult but we will be able to see a lot more food if processing is taken into consideration along with preservation, ” Min. Kemayah reiterated.
The President’s proxy stated further that road productivity is linked to agriculture and with good road connectivity farmers will have the opportunity to meet farmers at their gates but without better road networks it becomes difficult.
He disclosed that the government’s strategy in about food and cash crops adding, “If we are able through the rice value chain to improve that aspect, it will enhance the vibrancy of our economy.”
He therefore lauded the USAID for the support through investment given to the agriculture sector emphasizing that CARI is a product of the USAID and government partnership which has showcased farmers though a successful national Agriculture fair 2021 demonstrating that investing in agriculture can only be realized with a shared responsibility.
Earlier, most of the farmers explained their challenges which were not very different from what the Minister spoke about but a foreign representative urged the government to take interest in learning from what people in other countries are doing.
He said not everything that is going well in other countries are applicable to another country or not everything that is applicablein a particular sector goes well in the same sector in another country urging the government to understand global dynamics in terms of country’s context.
Meanwhile, all farmers were transported back to their respective counties while the Ministry of Agriculture bought the remaining farm products thereby reducing the farmers’ load and relieving their financial constraints.