Monrovia – Two Liberian entrepreneurs have benefited from grants totaling US$60,000 to help improve their businesses in the agro sector of Liberia.
Report by Edwin G. Genoway – [email protected]
The grant was provided by the Liberia Agribusiness Development Activity (LADA) as a means of upgrading the businesses of the agro-entrepreneurs operating in the country.
Both Joan Williams – CEO of Joan Agriculture Business Center and Wedour Emily David of Bravo Sister Enterprise signed the grant agreement with LADA in Monrovia under a 50 percent cost sharing arrangement.
Joan Williams is an agro-dealer operating in the Paynesville Red-Light, outside Monrovia.
She received US$10,000 from LADA to expand her business to meet the agro-inputs needs of smallholder farmers, particular in Montserrado County.
She expressed joy for getting such opportunity as a Liberian woman to expand her business.
“I am over joyed for the LADA family to provide me such opportunity to expand my business, at least I will now have more goods to supply our local farmers who are in need of crop items to make their farms,” she said.
Joan currently sells agricultural seeds of different types, fertilizers, and pesticides, among others. She explained that she supplies small skill farmers with fertilizers and educate them how to use the product.
Wedour David, another beneficiary of the LADA specializes in local Liberian food processing, she signed for a grant of US$50,000 to improve her processing, thereby enhancing the market opportunities for farmers.
Wedour processes gari, peanuts, cassava, among others. She is the producer of the popular ‘supper gari’ that is being sold on the Liberian market.
The super gari is made of cassava processed into farina while the Bravo sister processes the farina, mixes it with sugar, coconut and milk for sale.
According to Wedour, with the signing of the grant, it will help her improve her business and employ more Liberians and help to market Liberia’s process agriculture products.
“I am over happy that this grant is being given to me to improve of my business. With this grant, I will be able to buy my processing machines to process more products from our Liberian soil. “
“And I think with my empowerment, it will help put money in the pockets of our local farmers who produce these goods because I will always buy their produce and process it,” she said.
LADA’s Chief of Party, Daniel Gies, stated during the signing ceremony that the grant was part of his entity’s US$3 million company investment fund that aims to build the capacities of agro-dealers and other agro-entrepreneurs.
He said the two selected beneficiaries have positively changed agribusinesses in Liberia through processing of locally made products.
He said he is grateful to the United States government for providing the money to help Liberians farmers around the country.
“We are very gratified that with the support of the People and Government of America, Liberian agro-entrepreneurs can obtain the opportunity to access money to expand their businesses,” he said.
Gies added that LADA intends to facilitate the environment where agro-inputs can become more accessible and of quality for smallholder farmers by building the capacities of the private sector to improve the incomes of smallholder farmers as a way of sustaining Liberia’s food security.
“Our project is working with agro-inputs dealers and other value chain actors to meet its goals to improve the income of smallholder farmers to sustain food production. We cannot achieve this objective without strengthening your capacities,” he told the grant beneficiaries.
According to Mr. Gies, in the next four years, LADA expects to empower at least 300 agro-inputs dealers and processors so that they can create sustainable income opportunities for local farmers.
The head for Component One at the LADA project, Ambrose Forpoh, stated that beneficiaries were selected based on their potential and interest to provide necessary services to farmers in the project’s targeted counties.
“We are involved in providing training to several agro-dealers in the country to reach local farmers with quality and affordable services to improve the lives of smallholder farmers,” he stated.