The Kwakehseh Rural Women Cooperative in Nimba County, has hailed the Smallholder Transformation Agribusiness Revitalization Project (STAR-P) for assisting them to improve in farming to support their families.
STAR-P is a World Bank funded project secured by the Liberian government to assist local farmers and agribusinesses in the sector.
Mrs. Olivia Williams, head of the group, said with the provision of grant, her farming organization was able to procure a mini truck, motorbikes and to construct a warehouse to address the issue of post-harvest losses that have seriously impeded their productivity.
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"The grant received from the government project has changed the incomes of the members of our organization. It has helped to reduce post-harvest losses," he said.
She explained that the assistance has caused the membership of the women's organization to increase from 200 to 350 members who are women and a few men.
"Prior to STAR-P coming, we encountered too many post-harvest losses, because we did not have the vehicle to quickly transport our produce to the market," she said.
"With the grant, we were able to procure a mini truck, some motorbikes and construct a modern warehouse/storage to curtail the post losses we were experiencing," she added.
Mrs. William told this reporter that before all their produce used to spoil while awaiting transportation to the market and even go through many losses before getting the goods to the market.
"Before STAR-P gave us a grant for the mini truck, we paid L$300 to transport one 50kg bag of cabbage to the main road, which is about a 15 minutes' drive from our project site," she added.
Accordingly, the Ministry of Agriculture through STAR-P was supporting 'The Kwakehseh Rural Women' in production of mainly vegetables, which include pepper, cabbage, bitter ball and among others and besides they are also involved in rice farming.
"Our members and even some individual vegetable farmers in the community are happy because the vehicles transport their produce to the market with very little transportation cost," she said.
"We also hired people to do some work for us, when the need arises," she added.
For his part, Saye G. Bayou, a General Secretary of Kwakehseh Rural Women said STAR-P provided them skills or training that they have never experienced in their lives.
He said the trainings have changed the way of farming and also help them to keep their record appropriately,
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He outlined climate smart farming as one of the trainings acquired from STAR-P, explaining that the climate smart training enables them to understand the climatic condition and also know how or what to farm in line with the seasons.
The Kwakehseh Rural Women is urging the Ministry of Agriculture and STAR-P to include other smallholders' farmers in the program so as to increase vegetable production in Liberia.
"With the training we acquired, we organized a 'village savings loan association', which is helping our members to take credit and pay afterward," said Olivia Williams.
The farming group also wants the MoA and its partners to relax some of the bureaucracies in getting grants. "Most of us are too educated, so to hire someone to do all these bureaucracies is cost intensive," they said.
"With help received from STAR-P our incoming generation has increased, and our members are now able to send their children to school and build themselves shelters," she concluded.
