By Winston W. Parley
Opposition Vision of Liberia Transformation Party (VOLT) political leader Dr. Jeremiah Z. Whapoe has advanced a plan to revolutionize the agriculture sector here, saying if it is implemented by any government, it can get entire Liberia out of poverty in four years time.
“The plan that I am going to discuss with you today if any government … comes to Liberia and you implement this plan, I can guarantee you … this whole country will get out of poverty in four years‘ time,” Dr. Whapoe said over the weekend.
Speaking on the topic “Poverty Reduction Strategy: Agricultural Revolution” at the Harvest International Men – Liberia’s 9th anniversary and conference held in Jamaica Road Community, Dr. Whapoe suggested that government should take a holistic approach to poverty reduction from day one.
Continuing his address through a power-point presentation during the conference at Harvest Bushrod Church, Dr. Whapoe further suggested that government should declare poverty reduction as a national agenda and set a realistic goal to combat poverty.
According to Whapoe, the government should invest in human capital with a focus on agriculture to minimize implementation failure.
He stated that agriculture can solve health care and educational problems when those engaged in farming activities are empowered to produce and take their products to make to sell and earn income so that they can address their family needs.
But to achieve the agricultural revolution, Dr. Whapoe also indicated that Liberia should move from small-scale farming to merchandized farming, arguing that people are not farming these days because it’s labor-intensive.
“So now the only way that we will be able to revolutionize this country to a better country so that you and I can actually enjoy the independence of this country, let’s go into agriculture and make it with the machine. Let machine farm for us,” said Dr. Whapoe.
Additionally, Dr. Whapoe said there should be a special bank solely for agriculture that will be responsible to give out loans to farmers and require them to either pay back in cash or goods.
He believes that this will lead to robust farming activities in Liberia and also enable the country to export food.
In his proposed plan, Dr. Whapoe said investing US$24 million in the agriculture sector can take Liberia out of poverty in four years. Concluding, Dr. Whapoe pledged to give support to the Church if it engages in agriculture activities.https://thenewdawnliberia.com/dr-whapoe-boosts-rice-production/
