The visiting 22-member delegation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has consummated a farming project deal for 1,000 rural women in Liberia.
The $2.5 million project titled: “Promoting Increased Resilience and Sustainable Income Generation in Food Security and Nutrition for Rural Women,” will support a select number of women from five counties to engage in poultry and vegetable farming to boost their income generation space as one anti-poverty model.
The project set to be implemented by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO Liberia office), is financed by the UAE government, and will be directly supervised by that country’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
It is due to take effect by 2020, as FAO will begin the necessary preparations to that effect following recent official discussions.
During the symbolic launch of the project at the Jamaica Resort in Paynesville on Sunday, FAO Country Representative, Mariatou Njie said: “We have observed that in Liberia, women are not engaged into high-level vegetable crops. But this project is going to target the growing of pepper, carrot, cabbage and tomatoes.”
The government of Liberia will make available five hectares and the selection of affected counties will be based on agricultural experiences and feasible conditions for the relevant projects.
Before it gets into full swing, FAO will train would-be beneficiaries in capacity-building, entrepreneurship, and economic empowerment skills to broaden their scope of understanding of standardized management of poultry and cultivation of vegetables.
Under the scheme, solar panels will be provided by UAE as a source of power generation to basically upkeep storage facilities on those farms.
According to Sultan Al Shamsi, UAE’s Assistant Minster of Foreign Affairs for International Development, the project will offer positive results a year from now, and that his government is always willing to partner with Liberia in support of the Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD).
TSS/as/APA