TAKING PRO-POOR AGENDA TO THE PEOPLE -CDA Boss Receives Media Group Award -Vows to make President’s dream a reality

The Deputy Registrar of the Cooperative Development Agency (CDA), Regina Sokan Teah-Williams is urging Liberians to rise to the call by President George Manneh Weah for self-sufficiency in food production and also said Liberians need to be strong to run with the idea of feeding themselves. Madam Sokan Teah-Williams made the statement when she was honored by a group of Liberian journalists under the umbrella of LIBERIAN MEDIA GROUP on December 31, 2018 at which time she expressed the importance of self-sufficiency in food production in Liberia, saying that Liberia has the weather and soil that can enable Liberians to grow food and feed the entire country.

“Liberians need to be strong; and if they are to take charge of their own economy, the best way to do it is by food security. We need to take the economy in our hands; there is goodwill out there. But before people help us, we need to help ourselves and when they see you washing your stomach; they will start to wash your back,” Madam Sokan Teah-Williams said.

Starting her remarks when she received from the Liberian Media Group a certificate of honor at the CDA Headquarters in Paynesville, Madam Sokan Teah-Williams, a former member of the Liberian Parliament acknowledged her appointment at the time by President Weah as Deputy Registrar of the CDA. She asserted, little did I know that I was going to serve as the ambassador for farmers in Liberia. “I am happy that I am serving in this capacity where I am able to carry the president’s Pro-Poor Agenda to the people, where we should be able to grow what we eat and eat what we grow”.

The CDA boss said that if Liberia should be self-sufficient in food production, the people of Liberia should go back to the soil, adding the CDA under her administration does not want to only send the message of self-sufficiency out to the people on radio only but by also going in the field to encourage the people to form themselves into cooperatives.

Because of the importance she attached to the President Weah’s message to Liberians for self-sufficiency in food production, the CDA Deputy Registrar indicated that during the course of 2018, her team embarked on a nationwide county tour with limited resources and not waiting on the government for support.

She narrated a story depicting that industrious countries feed themselves because of how they engaged into agriculture, asserting that an assessment by a Chinese has shown that Liberians are not taking advantage of the rich swamps in the country.

“I went to China; I saw the biggest rice farm. There is a Chinese man who did assessment of the swamps in Liberia. According to the CDA boss the Chinese man in his expert opinion said “Liberians, you guys are lazy, you have more swampland that you could use to produce rice and feed yourselves”. Madam Sokan Teah-Williams also said that the people of China do not build in swamps as it is done in Liberia. Adding, Liberia has good weather and soil that could be used to produce the nation’s staple food in abundance to feed the country.

She noted that the money used by government to import rice could be used for other development purposes saying that nobody can do it for Liberians if Liberians are not doing it for themselves.

Speaking further Madam Sokan Teah-Williams promised that she will not be an armed chair registrar of the CDA and noted that she will be operating her office on the basis of field mobility. She also indicated that she has been in discussion with the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy and the National Fisheries Agency of Liberia to form miners and fishermen into cooperatives so that they can meaningfully contribute to government revenue.

She then thanked the Liberian media group for the honor and urged the group to extend the CDA message beyond its reach as she promised the group. “We are honor to be honored by you and we will go to every county and every farm. This honor has reenergized me in fulfillment of my dream to take CDA to another level. My team and I will also go the extra mile to make President Weah’s dream a reality”.

Earlier, in presenting the Certificate of Honor to the Deputy Registrar of the CDA, the Liberian Media Group Honorable Sokan Teah-Williams deserves their honor because of her robust approach to the works and activities of the Cooperative Development Agency (CDA) since her appointment as CDA Deputy Registrar and therefore such honor was conferred upon her.