A local vegetable farmer, Khalil Dukuly, has called on the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) to address post-harvest losses for vegetables by constructing storage facilities.
Dukuly, who is the owner of the 'Dukuly Ken-Karrat Inc. farm in Klay District, Bomi County, said farmers are experiencing great losses from vegetables as the result of the lack of storage facility.
The Dukuly Ken-Karrat farm is involved in the cultivation of a 10 acres vegetable farm using drip irrigation to supply the market.
But storage remains a major challenge for Dukuly and many other vegetable farmers within the country.
Addressing the minister of agriculture, Dr. J. Alexander Nuetah, Dukuly informed the minister during his visit that more private investments may not be realized within the vegetable sector in the absence of an increase in storage infrastructure.
"The major problem that we are facing now is the lack of storage for vegetables. And so the government must be able to address the issue of storage in order to encourage more investments," he said.
According to Dukuly, his farm recently lost more than 3,000 watermelons due to the storage issue.
As a young farmer, Dukuly returned home from Holland to participate in commercial agriculture. However, the poor vegetable market is now making him very discouraged, something he said could cause him to abandon the business.
"I had a great loss from the vegetables that I just harvested due to the lack of storage. I only earned US$2,000 from the sale harvested from two acres. With the quantity of vegetables harvested from the farm, if most of it was sold, I could have earned US$25,000. I am very much discouraged and I think something must be done," Dukuly sadly mentioned.
On the other hand, he said that supermarket markets within the country were still importing vegetables, despite it being produced here by the farmers.
"Another sad thing is that the supermarkets are importing the cabbage and the lettuce that the farmers are producing here. I have told some of the supermarket owners that I am capable of supplying them because I produce vegetables all year round using drip irrigation," he said.
According to Dukuly, he made an investment of more than US$250,000 to start the farm, stating that the farm currently employed 17 young people.
He also mentioned that the Gobachop market women (retailers) were distorting the vegetables market by buying with cheaper prices and making a lot more profit than the farmers.
Dukuly is hoping to partner with the ministry to assist more people in the communities of the district in improving their skills for vegetable production.
"I am using this farm as a demonstration farm to educate the farmers on modern farming techniques for vegetables. It is my hope that the government will support my initiatives so that I can supply the market and also support more farmers," he said.
However, Minister Nuetah has acknowledged the contribution of the 'Dukuly Ken-Karrat inc farm towards the vegetable subsector.
At the same time, the MoA has donated a brand new motorbike to the Dukuly Ken-Karrat Inc. farm to facilitate the smooth delivery of vegetables to customers.
The donation is in fulfillment of Dr. Nuetah's promise on behalf of his ministry, when he recently visited the farm.
The vegetables sub-sector of Liberia still faces significant challenges due to poor practices and limited access to technologies such as storage. According to reports, productivity within the sector is generally low and post-harvest loss remains high.
Experts have said the sector has the potential to greatly improve the incomes of producers and create more jobs for women and youths, if adequately supported,
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Agriculture Minister Nuetah expressed commitment to address the challenges of the vegetables value chain, amidst the market constraint. He also expressed optimism that the initiative, when realized, will improve the incomes of farmers, and traders as well as ensure the constant supply of vegetables on the local market for consumers.
"Storage is very important not just for the farm but even at the marketplaces. We will do all we can to address this issue as we are working with the FAO. I got the complaint that the market women are trying to profit more from the labor of the farmers and we are finding a way to address that too," the minister said.
The minister recently made the disclosure when he visited the Dukuly Ken-Karrat farm, while on his second leg of a nationwide tour to assess the challenges facing the farmers and value chain actors as well as their potentials.
