By MC-Allen Tingba
In Liberia, at the Ministry of Agriculture, minister, deputies, regional, county, district and zonal coordinators are all appointed by government to steer the affairs of the ministry across the country.
These officials are task with the responsibilities to craft and supervise agriculture policies geared toward how to boom massive productivity of all foods crops such as vegetables.perential and plantation crops etc, etc for the sustainability of the country and its people.
Having emphasized on the works of officials of the Ministry of Agriculture may I asked this question, where in Liberia have one ever seen since Liberia got her independence in 1847, a large plantain, grand nuts,cassava, eddoes, farms initiated by the ministry, besides the subsistence farms produced by ordinary Liberians?.
Can I again asked, where in Liberia have one seen an Agriculture Ministry sponsored products farms of large size probably that could cover the land space for example that runs from the vicinity of Red-light to that of the Co-co-cola Factory in Paynesville?
The answers to these two questions as per my observation and study of the agriculture sector of the country now and before is an emphatic big no.
A big no to these questions because of the failure of those mentioned officials of the Ministry of Agriculture to perform their required duties and responsibilities.
This article, while it tends to focus on foreign food importation in the country continuous to pin-point at officials of the Ministry of Agriculture because they are the ones solely and wholly responsible for the massive production of natural foods in our country which if emphasis could have been placed on that production could combat the importation of foreign foods products into the country which is at an increasing rate.
It could have been in the best interest of the Liberian people to get involved in the agriculture sector if the ministry could have guarantee, educate and takes the lead to train and have Liberians engage in the production of all of the profitable agriculture products both plants and animals of our national food productivity to curtail the importation of foreign foods from around the world to Liberia.
The influx of foreign foods into this country some of which are of high health risks according to medical sources under the watchful eyes of officials of the Ministry of Agriculture is not only harmful to the health status of our people but also creates economic loses to the country.
In my view, if the ministry had prioritized, produced, and protect our natural foods industry, those natural foods could have been exported to other countries for sale and proceeds brought back to the country as economic benefits.
By estimation, China one of the food producing countries of the world land space is covered by 85% wet and 15% dry lands today, China produces food in abundance for its people while some of these foods are exported to other countries for sale and proceeds are brought back to the country, China had succeeded in the agriculture sector because of the workings of the country’s owned agriculture experts.
Unlike, China, Liberia our land naturally blessed by the Almighty is 90% covered with fertile dry and 10% wet lands one may wondered why then under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture cannot produce a conglomeration of food stuffs to be exported as compared to many industrialized countries exporting foods into the world?.
Foreign foods importation that has undermined our food independency since 1847 can be minimized or prevented in this easier and possible way in our country.
The government under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture could partner with the Internal Affairs Ministry by working with county authorities to declare an eminent domain or donate at least a 5,000 acres of land in each county for farming purposes precisely commercial farming for both animal and plant production as well as fishery if that is done will be the basis for us to say farewell to the high importation of foreign foods products.
Additionally, to prevent the importation of foreign foods into the country these are some of the supportive factors, there should be a decentralization of agriculture research center, research centers should be established in all 15 counties with the addition of the already established Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI) in Suacoco, Bong County which is not enough to curtail the importation of foreign foods into the country as I have indicated earlier in this article.
By definition in the agriculture language, research center is the breeding ground for all vegetable, plantation crops and all animals kingdom for a new varieties.
The reason why research should not be centralized but decentralized is that it is the training ground where inter-continental, continental, international expertise or scientist regularly breed all sorts of plants and animals that will cut down long duration of the life span of those mentioned plants and animals.
For example, the IR-25 variety of rice that has been constantly grown on Liberia soil for the duration of six months before harvest or maturity, if we are fortunate to have research centers in all 15 counties could cut down the life span of this variety from six months to two months in a years as maturity stage, with this, Liberia could be making a high mark in the production peak in rice, animal and fish production.
Liberia, as a country training agriculturalists at various agriculture institutions including the state-run University of Liberia don’t need experts from abroad to boast its agriculture sector rather what the country needs is to utilize the skills of these local experts through employment and appropriate budgetary allotment.
My fellow Liberians, officials of government and our developing partners this article is among series of articles I have written and published on the future of the agriculture sector which is the bedrock of our country.
Those articles written before and now is not only to enlighten the minds of officials of the Agriculture Ministry and that of the government but contained suggestions and recommendations all for the improvement in the agriculture sector but sadly for me there has not been no tangible results in return.
This time around, I am of the ardent hope that with the coming in of another administration in our country headed by President elect Joseph Nyuma Boakai who may have been an agriculturalist to see reasons to accept recommendations and suggestions of such not only from me but other experts in this field of study for implementation- Thank You
Author: Mc Allen Tingba is a 2011 graduate of the William R. Tolbert College of General Agriculture and Forestry at the University of Liberia and currently a student of law at the Louise Arthur Grimes School of Law at the University of Liberia.
He can be reached at mcallentingbagmail.com Cell number: 0770373817/0886-138530 .
