Agriculture Minister Calls for More Budgetary Support
Agriculture Minister, Dr. J. Alexander Nuetah is calling on Liberian lawmakers to increase the budget for the Ministry of Agriculture from US$3 million dollars to over US$13 million dollars in order for his ministry to further achieve its mandate.
He said adequate support for the ministry in the national budget will ensure the employment of additional staff, support the rice, cassava and maize value chains as well as to establish the proposed Agriculture Enterprise Development Bank.
The Minister said because access to finance is very much critical to enhancing productivity within the agricultural sector his Ministry is proposing the establishment of the Bank.
According to him, It will cost the country a little more than US$5 million dollars to establish the Bank to start improving access to finance for the sector.
He spoke recently in Monrovia during the Ministry of Information regular press briefing.
The 2024 national budget which is before the Legislature has US$5 million dollars stipulated for agriculture development which comprises allocation for the Ministry of Agriculture, Central Agriculture Research Institution, Cooperative Development Agency, Liberia Agriculture Commodity Regulatory Authority, and the Rubber Development Fund Incorporated.
But the amount within the budget allocated for the Ministry of Agriculture is far below the benchmark for the Malabo food security framework which mandates every African government to allot 10 percent of its total national budget for agriculture.
Within the current national budget, there’s no funding as direct support to address critical areas like, support for rice and cassava, access to loans and the improvement of extension delivery.
Liberia is a signatory to the Malabo agreement, but yet to adhere to it.
The country still depends largely on donor funding to support agriculture since the end of its civil war.
Minister Nuetah argued that his Ministry should be seen as one of the sectors that needs more employees as compared to other sectors.
He said his Ministry is, however, currently being challenged over the years with human resources capacity derivation due to limited funding.
“We need to employ more District Agriculture Officers, County Agriculture Coordinators, and Regional Agriculture Officers as well as crops and nutrition specialists for the Ministry,” the minister argued.
He further mentioned that there are plans for capacity strengthening for the Ministry of Agriculture, the Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI), and all agriculture-related training institutions to appropriately administer the sector, and conduct research to support agricultural development.
“We are also intending to promote agricultural mechanization and Improve farmer's access to improved production technologies,” he said.
He added that by taking measures for a standardizing agricultural commodity market and institutionalizing the use of appropriate units of measurement in the commercialization of agricultural products farmers and merchants can get good profits from their labors.
The Minister went on to say that they are going to work in developing a national strategy for agriculture development based on regional comparative advantage, improve access to finance through the establishment of the agriculture bank as well as working to improve agriculture extension advisory service delivery system so that farmers can access technology and new innovations.
Poor agricultural extension still remains a serious problem over the years within the sector.
Liberia has crafted a new extension policy for the sector, but funding is lacking within the national budget to support it.
The Minister further said his Ministry intends to support and promote local value addition and industrialization of the rubber sector to improve smallholder rubber farmers income through increased market access and fair prices for their produce.
Development of National Agriculture Invest Plan
The Minister said in partnership with development partners, the Ministry is taking steps to revive or develop the national agriculture development agenda that will focus on promoting priority food and tree crops areas as well livestock and fisheries.
The Liberia Agriculture Sector Investment Plan (LASIP) is a five years development plan for agriculture that is aligned with the Malabo Declaration. But support for the plan is said to be lacking or limited.
“The Ministry of Agriculture, with technical support from its partners, is currently formulating the National Agriculture Development Plan (NADP) that will guide the sector over the next five years,” the minister said.
He mentioned that the plan, when finalized, will not only direct government investment in agriculture, but will also provide guidance for development partners’ engagement in agriculture development in the country.
Administrative Actions
According to the minister, since he took over the affairs of the Ministry, they have nullified all previously issued stamps for phytosanitary certificates and import and export permits.
He said that new stamps are now being developed and shall be issued through the office of the Minister.
Furthermore, the minister said they have suspended issuance of duty exemption on agricultural inputs and machineries.
Executive Order Number 115 grants tax exemption on agricultural products, including machinery and other tools expired on January 19, 2024, the minister mentioned.
“We are working with the Revenue Authority of Liberia to review the current processes and make appropriate suggestions to the office of the president,” he added.
At the same time, the agriculture minister said that over the period, his ministry was able to relaunch a major farming cooperative in Bong County to produce more food for the market, reactivate the University of Liberia farm, and launch a urban and peri urban agricultural program to promote the government’s ARREST (Agriculture, Roads, Rule of Law, Education, Sanitation and Tourism) agenda.