(Voinjama, June 30, 2021): - Yezebu Vegetable Women Group, a network of self-motivated women engaged in vegetable farming on the outskirt of Voinjama, the main city in Liberia’s northwestern county of Lofa – 330 km away from Monrovia – felt relief and excited after receiving a power tiller from the Ministry of Agriculture. 

For over four years, the women used hoes to plough their more than five-acre farm of vegetable varieties– pepper, eggplant, watermelon among others.

From the field visit of the Minister of Agriculture, Jeanine M. Cooper, to Voinjama earlier this month, the women were assured of a power tiller from the Government of Liberia through the MOA to help them shift from manual to mechanized farming.

A power tiller is a two-wheeled agricultural implement fitted with rotary tillers which gives a smooth resistance to all farm activities. It helps in preparing the soil, sowing seeds, planting seeds, adding & spraying the fertilizers, herbicides & water.

Now, they have received a power tiller this week, the women through their leader, Garmai S. Gbusiwoi, are thrilled. 

“We thank the Government of Liberia, our President George Weah, our Minister of Agriculture for giving us this power tiller. We were suffering bending our backs doing farming. Let God bless the Government, President Weah and Minister Cooper. We say Thank You Plenty”, she said.

Resilient Garmai continued, “Just wait, we will make more vegetables and we will not make the Government, the President and the Minister shame by sitting down. We will work hard”

Funding to procure the power tiller was sourced from the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) through the MOA’s Tree Crops Extension Projects to support the Government of Liberia’s COVID-19 Food Security, Nutrition and Livelihood Plan which the MOA developed in April 2021.

His Excellency President Weah along with funding partners, African Development Bank, IFAD and the World Bank also support the plan with financing.

Government of Liberia’s Financing Agreements with IFAD for the TCEPs, ratified by the National Legislature in 2018 and 2019 respectively, restrict the funding partner’s support to only Lofa and Nimba Counties.

( Also see video link on how they are using the tractor: https://web.facebook.com/110775550583409/videos/288014906445433/ )