Gbarnga, Bong County – Vice President Joseph Boakai says government remains committed to investing in the agriculture sector of the country with the Ministry of Agriculture leading the way.
VP Boakai made the commitment at the Central Agriculture Research Institute CARI on Tuesday July 5, 2016 in Bong County at the official opening of the field office of the Liberia Agro- Business Development Activity.
VP Boakai commended USAID, Feed the Future, and the Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture for the novel initiative. He said the co-investment fund program fully re-echoes government’s repeated reminders to stakeholders that investment in agriculture should not be considered an exclusive preserve of the government.
Vice President Boakai recalled the huge role private investment is playing in moving nations to self- sufficiency in food production.
He described the launched on LADA as welcoming and timely and said his presence was to boost support for LADA and USAID goals of strengthening the role of the private sector in the development of agriculture in Liberia.
The Liberian Vice President said it is no doubt that the activities of LADA are key to creating awareness of the critical need for the private sector to be involved in the provision of vital inputs like fertilizer, seeds and other agricultural supplies to farmers.
He said he was pleased to know that USAID has appropriated a hefty amount of US$19.3 m to strengthen the provision of private sector services to farmers for fertilizers, seeds and other inputs and expressed the hope that such supply goes hand in hand with teaching the farmers the proper use of these inputs.
For her part, US Ambassador Christine Elder who also attended the opening ceremony said the Bong field office is the first of three LADA offices.
Ambassador Christine Elder said, although she has been in Liberia for less than a month, what is clear to her is that many Liberians are engaged in agriculture.
She said Liberia has a lot of potential because of the rain, good soil and it is important for Liberians to engage in hard work to maximize productivity in the sector.
Speaking earlier, Agriculture Minister Dr. Moses Zinnah said it is important for Liberians to invest in agriculture especially at a time when the prices of rubber and iron ore, which are sources of income in the country, are reduced.
Minister Zinnah praised the government and people of the United States through USAID for their continueal support to Liberia’s development especially in the agriculture sector and assured that the ministry will work and support the Agro- dealers association of Liberia in realizing its dreams.
Earlier in his overview of the Liberia Agro-business Development activity, the monitoring and Evaluation manager Oscar Flomo said over the years, relevant summative research findings and wide- ranging consultations with stakeholders in the agriculture sector revealed that needed inputs for smallholder farming are mostly unavailable or unaffordable and supply is often unrealistic and that agro- dealers who provide inputs on credit, as well as extension services to smallholder farmers, have very limited reach.
Mr. Flomo also noted that it was gathered that commercial banks are not incentivized enough to increase agricultural lending, and most smallholders do not qualify for loans.
The CNFA/ LADA Monitoring and Evaluation manager said the kit was in response to these constraints in the agriculture and agribusiness sectors. USAID, through the Feed the Future Initiative, developed the Liberia Agro-business Development Activity as part of its Country Development Cooperation Strategy for Liberia.
He said the activity seeks to sustain and build on the work of projects such as IBEX and FED and supports the feed the future goal of sustainably reducing global poverty and hunger.
At the opening of the Bong County field office, the first six recipients of the CNFA/LADA matching fund were announced from its four operation counties of Bong, Nimba, Lofa and Montserrado.
As part of its activity, Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture and the Liberia Agro-business development Activity in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture with funding from the United States Agency for International Development on Tuesday June 28, 2016 ended a weeklong capacity building training for Agro- dealers in the management and usage of agro- inputs in Gbarnga, Bong County.
The Liberia Agro-business Development Association is a US $19.3 million USAID/ Feed the Future activity which is being implemented by Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA). Its other partners are Business Start- up Center Monrovia, Enclude, and Global Cold Chain Alliance.
LADA will be implemented for five years in three Feed The Future counties; Bong, Nimba, Lofa and some parts of Montserrado County.
Component one is the focus of the agro-dealer training. LADA is building the capacity of the business owners and certificating them so they can gain access to finance through its co-investment fund (CIF).
This is 50/50 match through cash or in-kind if the business qualifies. Component two will increase private sector investment in post- harvest handling support, processing, storage, transportation and marketing services and noted that component three will strengthen facilitation, marketing information services, advocacy and support for agribusinesses. Several cross-cutting issues including gender, access to finance, and the environment will also be addressed.
LADA encourages women and youth financial participation in agriculture and expects a minimum of 25% of grantees and more than 35% of training participants will be women.
It will also mobilize private input suppliers, agro -dealers, and aggregators around organized producer groups, increase the use of quality agricultural inputs and technologies, and ultimately increase the incomes of smallholder farmers (SHFs).
Initially, LADA will focus on rice and cassava, the Government of Liberia (GoL) priorities for agricultural development. It is also aligned itself with the GoL’s LATA (Liberia Agricultural Transformation Agenda’s) and has begun to analyze vegetable, cocoa, coffee, livestock, fish and oil palm value chains to identify investment opportunities and the potential to increase incomes.
LADA was launched on April 13, 2016 by its Chief of Party, Daniel Gies, CNFA executives, USAID and the GoL .