MOA’S 2022 PERFORMANCE INDICATORS # 3 OF 30

PRESIDENT WEAH’S PROMISE KEPT: A MAJOR RICE FARMER IN FOYA, LOFA COUNTY GETS MOA’S FINANCIAL GRANT & TRACTOR TO EXPAND PRODUCTION PROMPTED TOWN’S RESIDENTS CELEBRATION

One of the first major achievements in the agriculture sector under His Excellency, President George Manneh Weah’s administration is the creation of the Liberia Agricultural Commercialization Fund (LACF).

The LACF within the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) gives matching grants to farmers and agribusinesses to expand production following thorough vetting processes. It is a joint financing of the World Bank and the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

After rigorous bureaucratic procedures, this year saw significant milestones achieved with operationalization of the LACF after President Weah’s pronouncement of the fund at the National Agriculture Fair in February 2021.

It was a wild celebration among residents of Solumba, a remote farming northern Liberian town situated in the commercial Foya District, Lofa County which is pinned at 276 miles away from Monrovia, when a tractor - purchased from the LACF for the Makona River Farm and Agriculture Services was ferried there in early November 2022.

With this tractor and funding, the farm has now extended its rice production area from 10,000 acres an additional 20,000 acres.

More rice farmers and producers have been vetted and set to receive funding and equipment.

The matching grants will continue up to 2026 and these funding, well monitored through their expenditure cycles, will be turnkeys for agricultural transformation through commercialization.

In 2021, the MOA removed the limitation on matching grants’ beneficial counties from 9 to cover all 15 counties and successfully negotiated with development partners for an increase from oil palm, rice and vegetable value chains and added livestock, cassava and rubber.

More agribusinesses and farmers are being currently vetted to receive funding through three cross-checking layers for fairness and transparency.

Firstly, a recipient develops a business plan which will be vetted by the MOA along with an independent fund manager competitively recruited and sent to an independent committee for due diligence checks to ensure sustainable management of the funds.

The final review is done by a mixed inter-ministerial and private sector’s funds advisory committee – which the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning chairs – for final decision either to accept or reject.