Liberia: “I’m Worried Over CARI’s Deplorable Conditions”

Liberia’s Agriculture Minister Dr. J. Alexander Nuetah says he is worried over the deplorable conditions which have to do with the poor infrastructure and human resource challenge facing the Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI) in Suakoko District, Bong County.

Dr. Nuetah says if CARI is to function effectively, the country will need to address the current situation.

According to him, the situation has created a huge gap in the functions of the only Agricultural Research Institution in Liberia.

However, the Minister has attributed challenges to what he described as the lack of proper management over the past years.

He also said the lack of proper management and poor salaries had also caused the departure  of qualified technical employees from the Institution.

According to the strategic plan, CARI is faced with various problems including, lack of research infrastructure, inadequate staff capacity and weak research extension linkages. Adequate funding for the research institute in the National budget has been lacking over the years, except monies that come from external sources. 

The Act that established CARI makes the Research Institute as the center of excellence for the generation, promotion for appropriate agricultural technologies to improve value chains and value addition, increase productivity and create jobs to reduce poverty and improve food security for the country.

The minister further mentioned that there have been some unqualified individuals serving in key positions, thereby preventing the institution from achieving its mandate.

He added that this was also affecting the performance of the entire agricultural sector as CARI plays a very important role for agriculture transformation.

"CARI doesn't have an infrastructure, CARI doesn't have the technical capacity for human resources to do the job, so all of these situations have created huge gaps in the day-to-day activities of the Institution," Minister Nuetah added.

Minister Nuateh who is the chair of the Board of CARI, emphasized the need for human resource capacity building to enhance productivity in the agriculture sector.

He promised to work with the government and the international partners to attract necessary resources for CARI.

The Minister disclosed that the Ministry is currently working on a plan to revamp the entire agriculture sector of Liberia, taking into consideration the pivotal role CARI.

He informed journalists that under his leadership as  minister of agriculture within the next 3-4 years, CARI will develop greatly to improve the various value chains.

Meanwhile, Dr. Nuetah who is the head of the Board of Directors of CARI said they are to shortly publish a vacancy for the position of Director and Deputy Director Generals for Research of CARI.

He said this will be followed by a vetting process and subsequent recommendation to the President for onward appointments to those positions by the end May 2024.

He made the disclosure after the board's first meeting which was centered on the appointment of Doctors and Deputy Director Generals for Research at CARI required by the Act that created the Research Institute.

CARI is currently being run by its new Officer-in-Charge Dr. James Sulonkwiley Dolo.