The government of Liberia discloses a plan to develop 2000 hectares of lowland with improved rice seed varieties in Fuamah District, Lower Bong County, as part of President Joseph Boakai’s commitment to revitalizing the sector.
By Judoemue M. Kollie
March 24, 2024-The Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) has disclosed a plan to develop 2000 hectares of lowland with improved rice seed varieties in Fuamah District, Lower Bong County.
The initiative is part of an effort to increase or improve domestic rice supply within the country.
The lowland rice project is one of several rice production projects supported by the Liberian government and international partners.
It is situated in Bong Mines and owned by the Fuamah District Multi-Purpose Cooperative.
Speaking recently at the project site, the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. J. Alexander Nuetah, said his Ministry remains committed to providing increased support for the lowland rice project, which will improve the lives of the farmers and supply the local market.
“We must do our best as a nation to improve domestic rice production. Once we can increase the domestic supply, I will call on the government to reduce the importation of rice. I want to challenge the farmers to apply more seriousness as we stand ready to provide all of the necessary support they need,” he said.
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It can be recalled that Minister Nuetah, during his confirmation hearing a month ago, promised the nation the improvement of domestic rice production by 50 percent.
His predecessor also announced a similar target last year, but no data is being released to prove whether the country was able to achieve the targeted goal.
Rice is Liberia’s main staple; however, since the end of the war, the country has yet to grow enough to feed its population. The nation still spends close to US$200 million annually on rice imports, and the government’s subsidy of rice imports has become a burden on the national budget as well.
The minister said that farmers must be supported in farm mechanization to increase production and invest more in processing to improve domestic rice production.
He has promised to construct a modern warehouse and processing center for the Fuamah cooperative so that the farmers can produce more rice for the market.
He said that his ministry will make the cooperative’s farm as one of the farm mechanization hubs where farmers can rent equipment for use on their farms.
“I want the farmers to be able to produce more rice for consumption within their communities. I also want to see that the support provided to the farmers will help them make more money to send their children to school and their families,” the minister said.
He told the farmers gone should be the days that Liberian farmers will use cutlasses and hoes.
The minister said that President Joseph Nyumah Boakai wants to improve the lives of farmers, and as such, he will not fail to fulfill the president’s mandates as a minister.
He said that the government’s ARREST agenda (Agriculture, Roads, Rule of Law, Education, Sanitation, and Tourism) aims to use agriculture to transform farmers’ lives and better the economy.
At the same time, amidst the report of paddy rice market constraints, the minister has promised to find a buyer for the farmers’ paddy rice.
It is reported that there is a huge pile of paddy rice in the warehouses of the farmers in some of the rice-producing counties.
The minister said that the rice market should not be a challenge facing the farmers.
“There are concessions that want to buy more rice to supply to their employees,” he said.
The minister instructed the head of the cooperative to immediately assess the quantity of rice produced by the cooperative in individual homes as his ministry is working to find buyers for the rice.
The head of the Cooperative, Prince D. Peter, acknowledged the support of the ministry through its donor’s projects provided last year.
He said with the help of the Ministry they were able to produce a lot of rice for the cooperative.
However, Peter explained that the cooperative finds it difficult to find a buyer for the rice they have produced.
Peter said that the cooperative was able to develop 500 hectares last year with support received from the Ministry through its project.
Despite this, he mentioned that the cooperative lacks a better processing facility and warehouse to store their rice.
“We want the Ministry of Agriculture to assist us with a better processing center and a warehouse to store our food. Because of the mill’s limited processing capacity, we can’t process all of the rice being produced. Our members store the rice they grow in their various homes,” he said.
Peter stated that the cooperative provided it is fully supported, has the potential to produce more rice for the country.
“We are appealing to the Ministry to assist all farmers for this farming season. Those of us who were assisted last year don’t have the cash to return to production. We haven’t been able to market our rice. We don’t want the Ministry to support only new farmers. We would appreciate it if the Ministry continued with us until we were able to stand on our own,” Peter explained.
