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As part of strengthening the capacity of Cocoa farmers in rural Liberia the Ministry of Agriculture through its Building Climate Resilience Project, celebrated the graduation of 48 cocoa farmers from four districts in Bong County.
The Building Climate Resilience Project aims to strengthen the capacity of farmers in rural Liberia, ensuring they are better equipped to face the challenges of climate change and food insecurity.
The hands-on Graduation comes following, the successful completion of a comprehensive 14-day Farmer’s Feed School Training of Trainers workshop aimed at enhancing the skills and knowledge of local farmers on coach production.
Held in Belemue Town Panta District; the event was attended by various Agricultural stakeholders, including local government officials, community leaders, and representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture.
In an interview with reporters, Ghemelee N. Keculeh the Adaptation Specialist for the Building Climate Resilience Projects emphasizes the importance of equipping farmers with the necessary tools to adapt to the challenges posed by climate change.
He added that the knowledge and skills acquired by the farmers will empower them to adopt sustainable farming practices that can withstand the impacts of climate change.
“It’s time to Local Farmers in Liberia to become self-sufficient in Food production; The Government of President Joseph Boakai is fully implementing the AREST agenda, the A in the AREST agenda represents Agriculture, the Adaptation Specialist Ghemelee N. Keculeh noted ’’.
The training program according to Mr. Keculeh highlighted various aspects of climate-smart agriculture, including soil management, crop diversification, and sustainable pest control methods.
During the 14-day training, Participants engaged in hands-on activities and discussions that fostered a deeper understanding of how to implement the cultivation of Cocoa in rural Liberia.
For their part, the Graduates expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to participate in the training, highlighting its relevance to their daily farming activities.
They explain that the training is an eye-opener for them as local farmers stating that applying it will improve cocoa farming.
“We are very grateful for this TOT training, our forefathers suffered to get access to quality training, so today we are now going serve as experts for Cocoa farmers in our different Communities’’ David Dangale one of the participants said.
In rural Liberia, most farmers consistently practice traditional Cocoa farming which specialists believe has contributed to low yields in Production especially in the Liberian Cocoa sector.
But the future seems to be bright, because of the government’s quest for transforming the agriculture sector as part of its developmental agenda
