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By LEAJN Editorial Team
Liberia’s Minister of Agriculture, Alexander Nuetah, has held a bilateral discussion with Dr. Maximo Torero Cullen, Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, focusing on Liberia’s participation in the global Hand-in-Hand (HiH) Initiative.
According to a dispatch from Rome, the meeting took place on the sidelines of the 2025 World Food Forum in Rome, Italy. It marked a major step forward in Liberia’s efforts to strengthen agricultural transformation and food security through international collaboration.
The Hand-in-Hand Initiative, launched by FAO in 2019, is designed to accelerate agricultural transformation, eradicate poverty, end hunger and malnutrition, and reduce inequalities—particularly in countries with high levels of food insecurity and underdevelopment.
Liberia formally applied to join the initiative in November 2024 and was invited to discuss its application during this year’s World Food Forum. According to Minister Nuetah, the FAO has now approved a technical mission to Liberia, scheduled for November 2025, to begin the process of developing a comprehensive investment plan under the HiH framework.
“This is a major milestone for Liberia’s agricultural sector,” the Minister noted, emphasizing that the partnership will help mobilize resources, enhance productivity, and attract sustainable investments to rural communities.
Liberia now joins 80 other countries participating in the FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative, positioning the country to benefit from targeted technical support, data-driven planning, and investment facilitation aimed at transforming agricultural systems for inclusive growth.
Minister Nuetah underscored that the government remains committed to leveraging international partnerships like FAO’s HiH Initiative to achieve national food self-sufficiency, promote rural livelihoods, and advance the goals of the National Agriculture Development Plan.
The FAO’s Chief Economist, Dr. Maximo Torero, recently highlighted Liberia’s progress in a September 2025 report titled “The Rise of Hunger in Africa: But Some Countries Are Beating the Odds.” The report noted that Liberia, alongside The Gambia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, successfully reduced hunger rates even as food prices surged—from 2.3 percent in 2020 to 13.6 percent in 2023.
Despite global inflationary pressures, these countries, including Liberia, demonstrated resilience in maintaining food access and stabilizing agricultural production—an achievement FAO says reflects effective national policies and growing international cooperation.
With the upcoming FAO mission and strengthened collaboration under the Hand-in-Hand Initiative, Liberia’s agriculture sector is now poised to take a more strategic role in driving rural transformation and food security across the country.
