Liberia: Cummings Plans to Reform Liberia’s Agriculture, Boost Food Security

….. Says farming will be the backbone of the economy under his watch

For decades, several agricultural policies have been introduced by different administrations of the Liberian government, but the desired growth of the sector has not been achieved.

So, ahead of Liberia’s presidential and Legislative polls on October 10, presidential candidates of the leading parties are strategizing on how to revamp the country’s ailing agriculture sectors if elected.

In spite of several agricultural policies implemented to achieve food security in Liberia, food sustainability continues to be a major challenge. Food inflation has remained high, making it difficult for millions of Liberians to afford basic meals amid depleting incomes.

However, Alexander Cummings of the Collaborating Political Parties wants to do things differently: reform Liberia’s agriculture in an effort to boost food security and improve the country’s export power.

Cummings, among other things, intends to aggressively prioritize the mechanization of the huge endowment of arable land across Liberia to make agriculture the source of massive employment and wealth creation for Liberians.

“Agriculture will be the backbone of Liberia’s Economy under my watch when I’m elected in October,” Cummings said on Saturday, 29 July at a Farmers’ Summit held in Bomi County. The summit was held under the auspices of the World Foundation International (WFI) Agricultural Cooperative Agency.

“When God blesses me to become leader of Liberia, my government will make agriculture the backbone of our economy so that the citizens can feed themselves and farmers can make money and support themselves and their families,” Cummings said. “And we intend to do agriculture on a large scale in a modern way.”

“We will also make sure to fix the farm to market roads so that farmers can get their rice, cassava, plantains, peppers, bitter balls, and cocoa to the market to sell.”

Agriculture has been the mainstay of Liberia’s economy — being the primary livelihood for more than 60 percent of Liberia’s population and accounting for 31 percent of Liberia’s 2021 real gross domestic product (GDP), according to the International Trade Administration, an organ of the United States Department of Commerce. The sector, according to the World Bank, employed over 60 percent of the labor force.

Agriculture provides income for many households engaging in cassava, rubber, rice, oil palm, cocoa, or sugarcane production, with cassava and rice being the primary staple food crops.

However, most agriculture is small-scale, and overall agricultural productivity is low due in large part to low-technology practices and a lack of quality agricultural inputs.

As a result, the country imports more than 80 percent of its staple food, rice, making it vulnerable to global food price volatility. Poorly integrated, the agricultural sector lacks basic infrastructure such as machines, farming equipment and tools, farm-to-market roads, fertilizers and pesticides, and food storage capacity.

“We have to change this. We have to invest more in the sector because it has the potential for employment and for economic growth and development,” Cummings said at the summit. “Our government will make sure to give farmers the equipment, training, fertilizers, and seeds they need for their farm work.”

He said farmers will be provided with the money they need to buy seedlings for their farms.

“We will also fix the educational system, the health care system, and the roads, so that every citizen can benefit from their own Country,” he said. “You will see real change when we assume the leadership of this country. And that we promise that your lives will change.”

“That’s what we want to do for Liberia, but farming will be the foundation of our country,” he added. “Gold, diamonds, and iron ore will finish, but the land in Liberia can never finish. This is why our government has decided to support farming because ultimately every Liberian has to be fed, and it will help to create jobs and move the country forward.”

Cummings described the women, many of whom are in the agricultural sector, as the foundation of Liberia, while referring to the young people as the future of the country.

The WFI summit, which took place in Goghen Town and Mana Clan, Klay District, in Bomi County, was held under the theme: “Save The People from Hungr and Poverty.”

Its aim was to bring the farmers together to inform them about what should be done for agriculture development in the country.

It was also intended to serve as a gateway to economic growth through agriculture production in Liberia and the world at large, the organizers said.