Government says it has unveiled plans to assist farmers as a way to empower them and revamp the agricultural sector to provide tons of jobs in the Liberian economy.
Deputy Minister for Economic Management at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning (MFDP), Augustus Flomo said government had already designed an investment plan for agriculture businesses across the country before COVID 19 interrupted the process.
He said that the program is in two fold increasing agricultural products and adding value to those products that will be produced as funding will cover rubber and rice production and processing, pig cultivation, poultry sector and also transportations of goods from farms to markets for commercial purposes.
Flomo made these comments recently when he appeared on the state-owned radio explaining how the regime has, through the Independent Investment Committee, approved more than US$5 million and that some 43 businesses have been endorsed after two approvals.
“We have approved 43 businesses in agriculture, ranging from people making rubber farms and doing processing to rice farms, rice processing and poultry,” he asserted.
The Deputy Minister described this investment program as “a big, big funding that the government is making and that’s why we cannot do business as usual.”
He added that “Emergency Funding is different from Development Funding” and that development funding will help the country grow economically.
Flomo asserted that the government has developed a framework that says normal pragmatic support be rendered to smallholder farmers in order to provide them some tools, capacity building and even training as well as to help them succeed in this process.
“We have to do investment funding that focuses on increasing or expanding people who are doing agriculture as a business, to increase their businesses,” he noted.
Flomo then referenced rice and rubber, saying that annually, Liberia spends about US$150 million on rice import, adding that if local farmers can produce half of the amount, there will be no need for people to be fighting for governmental jobs because those who will produce half of the rice the country consumes will have lots of money.
“The point is we import almost US$150 million or more rice every year. Imagine that local farmers produce that volume of food we eat, how many people will get rich here?” Flomo wondered.
He said, Liberia has been exporting rubber without adding value to the crop by producing some valuable items from it so, he said, the government has plans to also work with people who will express interest in producing items from rubber through this program.
Meanwhile, he assured the public that there will be no conflict of interest in the vetting process because those placed on the various committees are professionals and longtime experienced business gurus who know and understand the improvement and status of businesses.