Monrovia – (USAID)The United States Ambassador to Liberia, Christine Elder, along with the Liberian Vice President, Joseph Nyumah Boakai, today opened the Bong County office of the Liberia Agribusiness Development Activity (LADA). LADA, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is part of the Feed the Future Initiative of the U.S. Government, which seeks to reduce global hunger and poverty by investing in food security and agricultural development in partner countries like Liberia. LADA will pursue this goal in Liberia by engaging the private sector to invest in agriculture, with an emphasis on reducing post-harvest losses and enhancing market access for small holder farmers.
Speaking at the LADA Bong County office launch in Suakoko today, Ambassador Elder said that with smart policies and hard work, Liberia can unleash the potential of its agribusiness sector so that the millions of Liberians engaged in agriculture for a living can more readily benefit from the sweat of their labor and the fruits of their land. In his remarks, Vice President Boakai underscored the complimentary relationship between LADA and Liberia’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda, whose principal goal is to foster private sector investment and participation in agriculture.
The opening of the LADA Bong County office today also coincided with the launching of the LADA Co-Investment Fund (CIF), which is designed to provide matching grants for Liberian agribusiness investors. Today, six Liberian entrepreneurs received grants totaling $650,000 (USD) from the CIF. The recipients included Benedict Sampson, the owner of a business that manufactures and repairs agri-processing tools and machineries, including palm oil processing machines. He will use the grant to increase production at his Gbarnga-based factory. Other recipients of the LADA CIF grants included the Gbehlay Geh Rural Women Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative of Nimba County. Gbehlay Geh is an 86-member corporative that produces, processes and sells rice and rice seeds. The cooperative will use the CIF grant to purchase a larger rice processing plant.
Several Liberian Government officials, including the Minister of Agriculture, Moses Zinnah, and Bong County Superintendent, Selena Polson Mappy, joined Ambassador Elder and Vice President Boakai for the launch of the LADA Bong County office and the CIF. The Bong office is the first LADA office opened outside of Monrovia.