On Wednesday, July 10, President Joseph Nyumah Boakai is expected to launch the new National Agriculture Development Plan (NADP) for Liberia in Monrovia to drive agricultural development for the furation of his administration, agriculture minister, Dr. J. Alexander Nuetah has disclosed.

The plan is considered to be a significant step toward a food secure future and the creation of jobs for women and youths by guiding, or attracting agricultural investments coming from the government, development partners and the private sector.

The plan prioritizes agricultural value chain support and development for rice, cassava, maize, rubber, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, fisheries and livestock, among others.

The plan, when launched by the president and fully implemented, is expected to empower smallholder farmers and other members of the agricultural value chain in promoting sustainable farming practices and technologies that have the potential to transform the sector.

Minister Nuetah made the disclosure on July 8, 2024 in Monrovia, during a press briefing at the Ministry of Information.

President Boakai has set agriculture as the number one priority for his administration under his ARREST (Agriculture, Roads, Rule of Law, Education, Sanitation and Tourism) agenda, but funding for agriculture remains dismal in the 2024 National budget.

The agricultural sector is engulfed with numerous challenges, despite attracting huge donor funding since the end of the 14-year civil war.

As the plan will be launched, the agriculture minister said his ministry has been mandated by the president to support the sector.

Minister Nuetah told the journalists that within the next six years, the government is expected to invest US$418 million to support the agricultural plan.

Dr. Nuetah said the plan was drafted and validated by stakeholders, within his first hundred days in office.