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By Nathan Kollie/ [email protected] / 0881062345 / 0776735197.
Botota, Bong County — Joseph Jimmy Sankaituah, Founder and CEO of Lucky Agro & Bioenergy Group of Companies (LABGC), is urging the Government of Liberia, through the Ministry of Agriculture, to scale up support to smallholder farmers across the country, asserting that such an initiative is essential for increasing food production and improving livelihoods in rural communities.
Speaking from Botota in Kokoyah District, Bong County, where his agro-based enterprise is headquartered, Mr. Sankaituah made a passionate appeal for what he called “robust and targeted government support” to cooperatives and farming groups engaged in local food production. He emphasized that if adequately empowered, small-scale farmers could significantly contribute to Liberia’s food security and economic recovery efforts.
“As a trained agriculturalist and someone working closely with farmers on the ground, I see firsthand the challenges and potential in our local agricultural systems,” Sankaituah told reporters. “Support from the Ministry of Agriculture in the form of technical training, modern equipment, improved seed varieties, and access to finance would be a game-changer.”
LABGC, founded in 2014, currently operates several integrated farming projects in Bong County, including oil palm cultivation, poultry and fish farming, rice production, and vegetable gardening. Mr. Sankaituah noted that the mixed vegetable production, in particular, has exceeded expectations, producing abundant, healthy crops thanks to the district’s fertile soil. “The success of our vegetable farm is proof that with the right inputs and guidance, farmers can thrive,” he added.
He further called on Agriculture Minister Dr. Alexander Nuetah to adopt an integrated national approach that actively involves cooperatives in policy and program implementation. According to Samkaituah, empowering cooperatives with both resources and a seat at the decision-making table is key to transforming the sector from subsistence-based to commercially viable.
“Our work at LABGC is aligned with the government’s AREST Agenda, and we stand ready to complement national efforts to promote inclusive agricultural development,” he said.
Mr. Sankaituah’s remarks come at a time when rural farmers across Liberia continue to grapple with limited access to markets, modern tools, and reliable extension services—challenges that have long hindered agricultural growth despite Liberia’s vast arable land.
With agriculture employing a majority of the population, farmers like Sankaituah believe that strategic investments in smallholder farming could serve as a catalyst for broader national development, reduce dependency on food imports, and improve livelihoods in farming communities.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Agriculture unveiled an ambitious plan to establish eight agricultural machinery hubs across Liberia. The initiative, aimed at empowering smallholder farmers, was introduced as a transformative step toward reducing the drudgery of labor-intensive farming practices and modernizing the country’s largely subsistence-based agricultural sector. It was widely hailed as a critical intervention to enhance productivity, improve food security, and minimize post-harvest losses, particularly in rural communities where access to mechanized tools remains extremely limited.
According to the Ministry, the proposed hubs are to be strategically located in key agricultural regions and will offer services including access to tractors, rice threshers, irrigation equipment, and other modern farming tools. The rationale is to create a shared-use model that allows small-scale farmers, who typically cannot afford such equipment on their own, to benefit from mechanization through rental or subsidized usage schemes. This model also includes training on equipment operation and maintenance to ensure sustainability and local capacity development.
The machinery hub plan is a core component of the government’s broader strategy to mechanize agriculture and aligns with the national AREST Agenda (Agriculture, Roads, Energy, Sanitation, and Tourism), which places sustainable development and rural empowerment at its center. By improving access to agricultural technology, the hubs are expected to contribute to increased crop yields, enhanced resilience to climate variability, and a gradual reduction in Liberia’s dependency on imported food staples.
However, the full implementation of this plan remains growing anticipation for farmers like Joseph Jimmy Samkaituah, who represents a widening chorus of smallholder agripreneurs eager for progress, but still waiting for tangible action from the government.
With Liberia continuing to grapple with rising food imports, inflation in local markets, and persistent rural poverty, experts warn that delays in implementing key agricultural support programs such as the machinery hubs could have long-term implications. “If these hubs are not established and operationalized in time for the next planting season, we risk widening the productivity gap and missing a major opportunity to strengthen food systems”, the Executive Director of Agro Tech, Jonathan Stewarts, warns.
