Monrovia — The lack of buyers hurts local rice farmers in Lofa County, even as the Ministry of Agriculture here encourages increased productivity and commercialization of products to empower farmers.
Through the World Bank-approved Smallholder Agriculture Transformation and Agribusiness Revitalization Project (STAR-P) and Rural Economic Transformation Project (RETRAP), value chains of rice, oil palm, and horticulture (growing plants) receive support to encourage increased agricultural productivity and commercialization.
Led by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) focal persons in selected counties, a team of journalists has visited several farm projects supported through the World Bank-approved STAR-P and RETRAP projects.
Projects in Foya including the Makona River Farm and Agriculture Services in Sorlumba, the Ministry of Agriculture Rice Processing Facility, and the Mayor River Women Initiative were visited.
In Kolahun, assessment was done at the After the Rain Rice Production Cooperative, and the Kolahun Community Bank, among others.
Also, the team visited some facilities in Voinjama which included the Diompiccor Farmers Association, Lofa United Blind Association, Selma Agriculture Development Cooperative, and Voinjama Mechanization Hub for Agriculture, among others.
Makona River Farm and Agriculture Services Manager Mr. Saah Bundoo told journalists during a tour on 10 June 2024 that Liberia can minimize rice importation, but the lack of long-term loans is killing local farmers.
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"That's the challenge that we have now. Like what I was talking about sustainability, we harvested this rice, who is to buy it?"
"As I speak, we have so many tons of rice in the hands of the farmers here, but who to buy it?" Mr. Bundoo lamented.
He recommended that the government provide funding in the form of loans for rice processors to buy paddy rice (unprocessed rice) from the farmers to reduce the time it takes for them to sell.
Instead of the government subsidizing rice importation, Mr. Bundoo suggested that it uses the money to help rice processors buy locally produced rice to strengthen local farmers to produce more rice.
"There is no storage. The World Bank gave us a funding for storage, but looking at the farm and they all came and saw it. The rice that we produced last year, the one that we had in Selma was filled, we had to take it to Foya and use another warehouse there to store," said Mr. Bundoo.
He said a warehouse is under construction which when completed would be used to store more rice and look for buyers.
However, he hailed the intervention of the World Bank through STAR-P and the Ministry of Agriculture, saying they benefited a lot from their interventions.
The Makona River Farm and Agriculture Services in Sorlumba, Foya, is an over 1,000 hector cultivation initiative started by Mr. Saah Bundoo and his brother Emmanuel.
Before STAR-P and MoA's intervention, they were initially cultivating about 25 hectares, but that has expanded since 2021 when they got support.
With the government's help, Mr. Bundoo said the Makona River Farm and Agriculture Services won its first grant of US$190,000 from the World Bank through STAR-P.
"This was given in kind. So, within this we were able to get two tractors, one can motor for transportation, rice threshers, power tiller, power saw to help us do some minor clearing," said Mr. Bundoo.
Due to the government's construction of two big rice mills in Foya and Voinjama, Mr. Bundoo said his group decided to produce rice and they were given another US$123,000 grant in 2023.
Bundoo detailed that the donor gave another US$75,000 that facilitated the harvest of 450 metric tons of rice on their1,000 plus hectares.
"So the STAR-P, the World Bank, they actually did well. From the place we started and where we are now, we are running after sustainability," said Mr. Bundoo.
Mr. Jangai Fofana from the Agriculture Infrastructure Investment Company (AIIC) in Foya who is engaged in rice processing, thanked MoA and STAR-P whose interventions have uplifted rice processors.
Fofana explained that they are operating a rice processing mill with a capacity of 16 metric tons which produces 40 bags of 25kg of rice per hour.
According to him, they buy the paddy rice from local farmers at the cost of US$17.00 per 52kg for lowland farmed rice, and US$16.00 per 52kg for upland farmed rice and then process it.
He thanked the Liberian Government and STAR-P for the support, as well as USAID which gave the first support.
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According to him, STAR-P provided some tractors, tiled the floor where their rice is processed, and the government did the infrastructure work for the facility.
Mr. D. Levi Kpenkpan, STAR-P Focal Person for Lofa County, explained to journalists at the Foya and Voinjama mechanization hubs that the facilities intend to discourage manual farming.
"So all the equipment that can do mechanized farming ... will be kept here and [a] private entity will be able to take the initiative to man them so farmers come and apply for [them], and carry them for the purpose of the work they have to do," he said.
Under the MoA's STAR-P and RETRAP projects, Mr. Kpenkpan said they encourage farmers to increase productivity and commercialization.
"We encourage them to [engage in] high production, and also we encourage them to commercialize so that they can be able to improve their livelihood," he said.
In Lofa alone, he said about 21 farmers have won grants from the bank, and 65 others are being supplied direct imports (fertilizers, cutlasses, hook, and rain boots, among others).
With these projects undertaken in Lofa, Mr. Kpenkpan said there has been great improvement in farming in the county.
