Liberia Agriculture Minister Dr. Mogana Flomo Jr. says the Ministry is working with partners to bring in the country a consignment of agriculture machines.
Minister Flomo said the eagerness of the Liberian leader to ensuring the forward movement and implementation of the Ministry of Agriculture’s goal, he (President Weah) is doing all he can to make Liberia a self-food productive country.
He said as a result of the government’s support to the Agriculture sector of the country, the Ministry of Agriculture and Partners are now working and strategizing plan that will lead Liberia to its food secured status.The Liberia’s Agriculture Minister said when these equipment are available in the country it will boost the sector.
According to him, the machines will not only be brought into the country but there will be experts who will train Smallholder Farmers about its usages and maintenance.
Minister Flomo said, as Minister of Agriculture, he will do all he can to improve the sector under the leadership of President George Manneh Weah which will make Liberia to feed its citizens instead of depending on imported rice.
“We will keep working for our People, President George Weah wants to see the happiness of the citizens and that’s why we have committed ourselves to” he adds.
Minister Flomo barely one month after his confirmation by the Liberian Senate promised to make Liberia to make Liberia an independent Country interims of food production under his watch as Head of the Ministry.
Even though he did not state how it will be done, but said after three years as Agriculture Minister, he would make sure Liberia produces food that will stop the importation of rice.
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In an effort to implement that, Dr. Mogana S. Flomo, Jr., recently made another call to well-meaning Liberians, smallholder and household farmers that in order to feed ourselves, boost economic security and have job opportunity that will sustain the nation, Liberians should go back to the soil and grow up to 40, 000 metric tons of rice in 2019.
Dr. Flomo made the call recently at a signing ceremony of two Japanese-funded projects intended to promote – ‘Integrated Sustainable Rice System Development and ‘Support to implementation of the 2009 FAO Agreement on Port State Measures and the Voluntary Guideline for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries and Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea’ valued at US$750, 000 – between the Government of Liberia (GoL), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) at the Ministry of Agriculture in Gardnersville.
The rice project, according to the Dr Flomo, is expected to strengthen the underdeveloped value chain, construct two post-harvest facilities with post-harvest technologies (rice mills, destoners, threshers, storage and drying slides) in two of the bread basket counties – Lofa and Bong, and will also improve farmers’ access to markets.
By: Joseph Titus Yekeryan in Bong County
