Monrovia, Liberia – The Liberian government has given 14 tractors and trailers to different farming cooperatives in the counties of Bong, Gbarpolu, and Rivercess to increase their labor capacity. Additionally, 18,000 pieces of various basic processing equipment were purchased to open up processing opportunities for additional people in the same counties.
The Accelerated Community Development Program (ACDP), a five-year ambitious flagship program of the Liberian government, was used to purchase the farm machinery and processing equipment.
The UNDP is putting the initiative into action in coordination with important line ministries and organizations.
In order to lessen poverty and inequality in the lives of rural inhabitants, it seeks to boost the nation’s human development in the fields of agriculture, education, roads, power, water, and sanitation.
Its overarching objective is to boost the nation’s human development in the sectors of agriculture, education, roads, power, water, and sanitation in order to lessen poverty and inequality in rural residents’ lives. President George Weah committed US$100 million for the program’s first three years of execution when he launched the ACDP initiative on October 20, 2022, United Nations Day.
However, Louis Kuukpen, UNDP’s deputy resident representative for the program, stated that the government has already made an initial contribution of US $ 3 million toward the program’s implementation. According to him, each of the beneficiary communities will be able to add value and strengthen their agricultural foundations with the aid of machinery and processing equipment worth over US $ 600,000.
Additionally, Kuukpen stated that drilling and water pump testing for the first borehole completed in Donfa, Bong County, marked the beginning of the building of ten solar-powered multipurpose boreholes.
He claimed that drilling for the remaining boreholes is currently taking on in the counties of Rivercess and Gbarpolu and will be finished by the beginning of October 2023.
He added that the ACDP would expand on the progress already done and speed up the repair of 39 hand pumps, the construction of 14 brand-new hand pumps, and the installation of an additional 5 multi-purpose solar-powered bole holes in new villages.
The UNDP Deputy Representative for Program, however, noted that there is still more work to be done and that resource mobilization is crucial to the effort. He reaffirmed the dedication of his organization to making sure that the ACDP helps address the issues of food insecurity, clean water, and inexpensive electricity for the rural poor.
According to Agriculture Minister Jeanine M. Cooper, the Ministry of Agriculture would invest US$6 million into the program to assist 40 communities in boosting agricultural productivities through one of its donor-funded programs.
Minister Cooper gave the Liberian people assurance that her administration will see to it that the nation produced 50% of its staple foods this year. She praised the ACDP program for taking a comprehensive approach to resolving the food crisis in the nation.
The program, according to Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Wesseh Blamo, is a demonstration of President Weah’s efforts to lessen equality in the lives of rural people. He claimed that poverty might be reduced via the use of sustainable agricultural methods.
“We are confidently moving toward this vision, which is intended to foster the innovation that will motivate farmers to actively engage in agriculture.”
Minister Blamo utilized the occasion to thank the UNDP family for their ongoing assistance in the country’s development and to appeal to other development agencies to support the success of the ACDP.
Meanwhile, program participants have expressed gratitude to the Liberian government for launching the initiative. Some of them who spoke with journalists expressed their fatigue with cultivating their land with cutlasses and hoes, which they claimed was keeping them in poverty.
With the help of these farming and processing tools, we will be able to produce more food for the market, according to Moingbeh Kamara of the Totoquelleh Agriculture Development Association in Gbarpolu County.
We are quite grateful for the outstanding efforts, another farmer, Musu George of the Kpatolee Farmers Cooperative in Bong county, remarked. It has been really tough for us to sustain our family because we have worked manually and without pay.
Reported by: Augustine Octavius
Contact: +231777463963
Email: augustineoctavius@gmail.com
