(Ministerial Complex, Monrovia, November 17, 2020):- A two-member delegation from the French Government’s Agence Française de Développement (AFD)referred in English as the French Development Agency on today, Tuesday, paid a courtesy call on Liberia’s Agriculture Minister, Jeanine Milly Cooper, to explore means of supporting the country’s agriculture sector.
The delegation met with MInister Cooper and her team of senior program planning and policy advisers led by Deputy Minister for Planning, Robert K. Fagans. 
AFD is the French Republic’s bi-lateral development finance institution established in 1941 that works on to fight poverty and promote sustainable development.
They finance projects in more than 90 countries, aiming to improve living conditions, support economic growth, protect the planet, and help countries in fragile situations.
Based on President George Manneh Weah’s intervention during his State Visit to the Republic of France in February 2018, Liberia was included among the list of countries to benefit from the French Government’s aid through the AFD as approved by French President Emmanuel Macron.
“We are looking at rural development through agriculture mainly in building agro processing capacities as one of the key areas of support the AFD is exploring for Liberia”, Cottet Christophe, Regional Director based in Accra told Minister Cooper.
He was accompanied by AFD’s Country Representative in Liberia based at the Embassy of France in Monrovia, Ms Mathilde Richelet.
Minister Cooper highlighted Liberian Government’s four agriculture priority areas -Access to agriculture financing; expanding cultivation from subsistence to mechanized agriculture; boosting agroprocessing capacities and program coordination with stakeholders.
Follow up discussions will be held with technical staffs.