Africa-Press – Liberia. The Liberian Legislature has allocated an additional US$ 3.4 million in the 2024 National budget for the Ministry of Agriculture to enhance productivity in the country’s agricultural sector.
The Liberian Senate recently passed the budget, highlighting increments for a few sectors, including agriculture.
According to a source, the additional US$3.4 million allocation in the budget for the Ministry is a counterpart for the establishment of the proposed Agriculture Enterprise Development Bank (AEDB).
The Bank, when established, is expected to improve access to finance in the agricultural sector of Liberia.
Since the end of the civil war, access to finance for agriculture has been either limited or lacking.
The additional allotment in the ministry agriculture budget promotes public funding for agriculture, something that the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) Malabo principles highly recommend.
The CAADP is the food security framework for the continent that mandates African leaders to allot 10 percent of their total national budget for agriculture annually to obtain a growth rate of 6 percent.
But Liberia, like many other African countries, is yet to adhere to 10 percent public funding.
Access to finance is one of the key targeted areas for the African continent food security framework.
Liberia’s president, Joseph Nyumah Boakai, has promised to transform agriculture in Liberia in order to improve the economy.
Boakai, a leader well experienced and passionate about agriculture, said he is going to make sure that agriculture is adequately supported under his administration.
The president has earmarked agriculture as a major development priority for his ARREST (Agriculture, Roads, Rule of law, Sanitation and tourism) agenda.
However, Liberia’s agriculture still largely depends on external budgets to stimulate growth.
The Deputy Agriculture Minister for Planning and Development, David K. Akoi, when addressing stakeholders recently that the ministry was in close consultation with lawmakers regarding an increment in the budget for agriculture.
“We are seriously providing justification for why we think we want more money in the budget for agriculture. We have said that we can’t succeed in agriculture without considering adequate support. Agriculture requires enough funding support,” the deputy minister once said.
Deputy Minister Akoi said that no matter what, the sector will need more funding support.
“We agreed that we are receiving funding from external sources. But these monies come with restrictions and we have a lot more to do to use agriculture to create jobs and improve food security,” he said.
The minister said his ministry was concluding on the development of a new agriculture investment plan for the country which is going to attract potential investment.
The Ministry of Agriculture had earlier proposed an increment of US$13 million dollars for the fiscal year to cover salaries, support key agricultural value chains and to establish the Agriculture Enterprise Development Bank.
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