Monrovia, (PMU-MoA) – June 29, 2020: The Deputy Minister for Regional Development, Research and Extension at the Ministry of Agriculture Dr. George T. Forpoh says the Ministry of Agriculture remains committed to supporting farmers throughout Liberia and strengthening the right value chains in all sectors to sustain the support by the international partners.
Speaking on behalf of Agriculture Minister Jeanine Milly Cooper at the start of a three day technical workshop for the Tree Crops Extension Project ll (TCEP-ll) in Voinjama, Lofa County, Deputy Minister Forpoh said, “agriculture remains a key priority of the Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD) and everything is being done to support smallholder farmers to diversify and increase production to meet the food and nutritional needs of the country while at the same time creating market linkages to increase income for farmers”.

The TCEP-ll will be implemented in the seven districts in Lofa County over a six-year period by the Ministry of Agriculture through a co-financing arrangement with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The project goal is to “increase income and improve the livelihoods of poor rural households engaged in cocoa farming and to improve incomes and climate resilience of smallholder cocoa producers in Lofa County.

About 15,000 households will benefit directly from the project of which 10,000 will be from the cocoa smallholder farmers and 5,000 farming households will also benefit from roads, input supplies, market linkages and positive spillover effects along the value chain.
Presentations at the technical workshop were made by several partner institutions including the Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI), Cooperative Development Agency (CDA), Liberia Agriculture Commodity Regulatory Authority (LACRA), and the Program Management Unit (PMU) among others.

In his presentation, the Project Coordinator of the IFAD Project implementation Unit (PIU) Mr. Emmanuel Vah, Jr. said the intend of the technical workshop is to “provide a clear understanding on the approach of the various components of the project and to get an early buy-in from the beneficiary communities and districts in the county”.

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Signed: Anthony K. Selmah
Knowledge Management & Communications Officer
                    MOA-IFAD-PIU-PMU