Economic Empowerment

Ambassador Malac said engaging women farmers is an important part of President Barack Obama's "Feed the Future" initiative because "by investing in women, we invest in the welfare of the household and we promote economic opportunities for women."

The Ambassador made the comments during a recent tour of Sangai Farm in Bong County. She praised Sangai Farm's owner and manager, William Tolbert, and the women farmers from the Welekamah Farmer Based Organization for working to build the agriculture sector. Before the war, Sangai Farm was a well-known producer of beef, poultry, vegetables, pork and livestock feed.

According to Mr. Tolbert, Sangai Farm is working to become an important producer of fresh vegetables in Liberia, both for the domestic market, and ultimately to move into exports as opportunities present themselves.

Sangai Farm combines both traditional farming methods with modern technologies to allow sustainable, environmentally sensitive and socially responsible production.

The U.S. Government is supporting agriculture in Liberia with a wide variety of programs in Liberia. A major investment is USAID's Food and Enterprise Development Project (FED), which is supported under President Obama's initiative, Feed the Future.

The FED project is working with U.S. Government partners, other donors and the Liberian public and private sectors to invest in agriculture in six target counties.

The program focuses on promoting the cultivation of four commodities which have been identified as having the greatest potential to alleviate poverty and end under-nutrition: rice, cassava, vegetables and goats.

The U.S. Government is also working with the Ministry of Agriculture to help rural communities have access to improved seeds, modern technologies, extension services and market information; to engage in value-added processing; to reduce their transportation costs; to access credit for working capital and investments; and to provide appropriate education, training and enterprise services.