By B. Linus Flomo
Concern Worldwide, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and other partners, recently organized an agricultural and market linkages fair for farmers to showcase varieties of local farm products.
Under the theme, “Grow Local and Eat Local,” the fair aimed to ensure market linkages between farmers, buyers, and other relevant value chain stakeholders at the local and national levels.
The event exposed the farmers to agro input dealers who normally sell farm inputs to farmers and other value chain actors, thereby establishing business relationships.
Held in Buchanan City, the event brought together farmers from Grand Bassa and Rivercess counties, as well as agro input dealers and other stakeholders from the public and private sectors.
The initiative is under the Livelihoods, Innovation Food Security and Entrepreneur (LIFE) program.
LIFE is a 5-year project being implemented by Concern Worldwide to increase agricultural production and processing, strengthen village savings and loan association (VSLA) groups, and to improve the market systems for diverse nutritious foods.
The program supports smallholder farmers in Grand Bassa and Rivercess Counties using climate smart agriculture techniques and conservation agriculture practices. The overall goal is to improve the incomes and food security for rural Liberians.
Delivering the keynote address at the fair, the Deputy Agriculture Minister for Technical Services, Solomon Hedd-William, said the Liberian Government’s Agriculture, Roads, Rule of Law, Education, Sanitation and Tourism (ARREST) Agenda shows that agriculture is a priority for the development of the country.
He said his Ministry is working with Concern Worldwide and other partners in the agricultural sector to empower the farmers and other value chain players.
Hedd-William said, to make the Ministry achieve its mandates, they are working with international partners to review or develop a new National Agriculture Investment Plan for the country.
He said the plan, when finalized, will seek support for agriculture to empower the private sector. The Deputy Minister said the Liberian Government is now driving toward farm mechanization to ensure productivity in the sector.
“We are going to support our farmers in farm mechanization in order to commercialize. This is not a time to continue to distribute cutlasses and hoes. We will make sure that farming communities have the necessary equipment and inputs,” he said.
He mentioned that the country’s agriculture sector still has many challenges.
“Limited processing opportunity, storage constraints are issues still facing the sector that we must address,” he explained.
He disclosed that the Ministry is working on a soil suitability map for the country to determine the best locations for crop development.
The Country Director of Concern Worldwide, Ciara Begley, said that the fair connects farmers with the market.
She said under the program, her institution is working with women and youth to improve their access to food.
“We want the farmers to work in partnership with other members of the value chain,” she explained.
She expressed gratitude to the implementing partners, on behalf of Concern Worldwide, for the level of support provided to the project to assist the farmers.
Meanwhile, one of the participant farmers at the fair told reporters that, with the assistance they have received from Concern Worldwide, they are able to grow more food for their families and communities.
“Under this program, we have acquired training and inputs to grow more food. This is greatly helping us to feed our families and support our children in schools. The program has caused us to make money, thereby bringing happiness within our communities,” said Patience Gobyee, a beneficiary from Rivercess County.
