The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) has announced the holding of a National Agricultural Fair from February 12-14, 2021 at the Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI) Liberia after 12 years of dormancy of the institution in Suakoko, Bong County.
An Agriculture Ministry press release yesterday said the ministry is planning and executing the Fair in collaboration with the Ministries of Internal Affairs, State for Presidential Affairs, Gender, Children and Social Protection along with the Cooperative Development Agency.
Agriculture Minister Jeanine Milly Cooper has named Deputy Agriculture Minister for Administration, Ms. Precious Tetteh, to lead the coordination and planning of the Fair, according to the release.
“Taking Stock of What We Have”, the release furthered, is one of the goals of Minister Jeanine Milly Cooper to transform the agriculture sector since her appointment as Minister of Agriculture a year ago.
The Ministry noted that the Fair will be an excellent forum to assess the food and tree crops grown in Liberia as there will be competition among counties on their locally grown products and prizes awarded.
“Investing in Agriculture for Prosperity & Development”, the MoA release noted, is the theme for this year’s Fair as agricultural development is an essential component of the Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD), the current five-year national development agenda of the country.
The release indicated that President George M. Weah places enormous importance on driving Liberia’s agriculture sector as a major engine of growth, and added that he will interact with farmers and stakeholders at the Fair to work out means of moving the sector forward.
Additionally during the Fair, Liberian agribusinesses will also showcase their plant-based products –food, drinks and cosmetics –locally produced and are being exported, while farmers, agro-processors, agriculture concessionaires, development partners, financial institutions and agro value chain producers will also attend the fair.
Entirely planned and executed by United Nations agencies and international partners, the last Fair was held in 2008 in the city of Tubmanburg, Bomi County, 70 km west of the Liberian capital, Monrovia.
Liberia’s Agriculture Law, enacted in the 1970s, mandates the MoA to hold an annual National Agricultural Fair to showcase agriculture produce grown in the country, the release concluded.