GARDNERSVILLE, Montserrado – The Ministry of Agriculture has begun a new partnership with the USAID-funded Feed the Future, Liberia Agribusiness Development Activities, commonly known as LADA.
On Tuesday, representatives of the ministry and LADA signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the partnership, which aims to improve the value chain of agricultural produce in the country and increase the income of smallholder farmers.
Charles McClain, the deputy minister for planning and development, signed on behalf of Agriculture Minister Moses Zinnah while LADA’s organizational capacity building manager, Zaza Mulbah, signed for LADA’s Chief of Party Daniel Gies.
With the MOU, the ministry has committed to providing LADA with crucial equipment, including 15 cassava mills and 15 fish feed mills. Worth at least US$50,000, the equipment will be distributed to agricultural entrepreneurs and disadvantaged farming communities, including youth, women, and cooperative farming groups.
McClain hailed the partnership between his institution and LADA. He said the agreement would ensure a closer working relationship between the ministry and LADA in working toward achieving food security and a better economy for Liberia.
“It is our hope that this will further enhance a relationship that will drive us to pursue our agricultural transformation agenda,†he said.
For his part, Mulbah said the initiative would help to improve the production capacity of farmers.
He said the first 30 agricultural processing machines should serve as a sample of what more smallholder farmers stand to benefit from in the future.
“We are in the process of increasing production to a higher level, but first, we need to see how people own and manage their machines,†he said.
He encouraged those receiving the first batch of processors to prove their readiness for more opportunities.
According to the agreement, the partnership between the ministry and LADA was driven by the similarity in both institutions’ goals. While the Ministry of Agriculture is the government arm working to achieve self-sufficiency in food production, LADA also aims to strengthen Liberia’s food security and increase the income of smallholder farmers.
Meanwhile, the two partners also identified better financing in the agriculture sector, mechanization of agricultural operations, and human resource development as future areas for collaboration.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly listed Chris McClain as the deputy minister for planning and development. The deputy minister’s name is Charles McClain.
Featured photo by Siemon Wee
