Liberia: Ministry of Agriculture Empowers Local Agri-Entrepreneurs to Boost Rice and Cassava Production

Monrovia — In a bid to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the agriculture sector, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) with funding from the World Bank has awarded contracts to 10 smallholder farmers and food processors for rice and cassava production. The contracts are being implemented under the MOA Smallholder Agriculture Transformation Agribusinesses Revitalization Project (STAR-P). At the signing ceremony on Friday, the Minister of Agriculture, Madam Jeanine Milly Cooper said the STAR-P, through its COVID-19 emergency proposal attracted US$10.5 million from the World Bank under the contingency emergency response component to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on agriculture and food security for Liberians. Of the amount, she noted that US$5 million was given to the World Food Program (WFP) for food distribution, while the remaining fund was given to the MOA for the empowerment of Liberian-owned agribusinesses to boost locally grown food production including rice and cassava for ...