The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will this Thursday, July 20, 2023, formally turn over equipment and tools worth over six hundred thousand United States dollars to farmers and agriculture cooperatives in Bong, Rivercess, and Gbarpolu, under the Accelerated Community Development Programme (ACDP), a flagship programme launched by His Excellency President George Manneh Weah in November 2022.

With an initial contribution of three million United States dollars, UNDP has procured fourteen tractors and trailers, which will enhance the labor capacity of farming cooperatives in making use of large-scale and a more mechanized approach to farming.  

Over eighteen thousand pieces of assorted basic farming tools, including rice, cassava, sugar cane milling machines, thirty-four sets of post-harvest processing machines, and a rice thresher will also be turned over on Thursday. 

The tools and equipment will add value and help expand the agricultural base of each of the communities, thereby addressing the ultimate challenge of food insecurity. They will be distributed to identified cooperatives and individual farmers in beneficiary communities in the targeted counties.  

The turning-over event will take place at the Barclay Training Center (BTC) on UN Drive, Monrovia, beginning at 10 am. Top officials of government, representatives from donor partners as well as beneficiary communities are expected to grace the occasion.   

ACDP is an initiative of the Government of Liberia’s Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development (PAPD) launched in November 2022 by President George Weah during the celebration of UN Day in Liberia. At the celebration, President Weah described the ACDP as part of the government’s commitment and determination to improve the country’s overall human development.

The five-year programme, which is put at one hundred million United States dollars for the first three years 20222-2025, is implemented by UNDP and aimed at addressing the real and pressing needs of the most vulnerable rural populations of Liberia. It is expected to have an immediate impact on reducing poverty while accelerating socio-economic development in rural communities.  

The programme also aims to help strengthen human capital and resilience to shocks and pandemics, as well as facilitate the implementation of the national pro-poor agenda to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030.    

As part of the programme activities, the construction of five solar-powered multipurpose boreholes has commenced with drilling and pump testing of water for the first borehole completed in one of the communities, Donfa in Bong County. 

“Drilling of the remaining four boreholes is currently ongoing in Rivercess and Gbarpolu and expected to be completed by early October 2023,” says Mr. Boye Johnson, interim programme manager of the ACDP at UNDP.   

Johnson said the boreholes will address challenges of access to safe drinking water by communities and for irrigation. It will also reduce security issues for women and children vulnerable to gender-based violence while traveling long distances in search of safe drinking water.