Liberian Agricultural Initiative

Mission Site #3:
Liberian Agricultural Initiative

Monrovia, Liberia

- Isaiah 6:8

Missions 2023: Faith Meets Action

Reaching out to a New Territory in Bong County

This year, the Lord led us to Blon-Mo Totota, Bong County, from May 30th to June 3rd. Although our budget was limited, we hosted an intimate group of fifty participants to be trained. We were blessed to have some professionals facilitate the training throughout the 5-day conference. Ms. Philomina Grant (Nutritionist), Mr. Zaizay (Agriculturalist), and Mr. Sampson Kerkulah (Aquaculture) approached their various topics with enthusiasm, and passion, educating and calling the participants to action.

The end of May is a conducive time for planting most of the vegetable seeds transported from Ghana, so we took advantage of this opening. We held the training at the demonstration farm sites previously donated by Mr. & Mrs. Geborh of Abundant Life Ministries and Pastor Robert Korley of Trumpet Of Zion Evangelistic Ministries. The training participants were excited to put their learning into practice. They organized themselves together and began clearing the land to prepare for planting.

We were so moved by the faithfulness and commitment of the conference presenters, who banded themselves together as a team of supervisors for the project on the demonstration site. This is a good sign for self-determination in our Liberian brothers and sisters. They are determined to see Totota and the surrounding villages in Bong County lead the way to an unprecedented agricultural revival in Liberia. May God be glorified when our faith meets action!

Gospel Crusade at Trumpet of Zion

Apostle Paul urges us to “be ready in season and out of season” to “preach the word” of God, for a time will come “when people will not tolerate sound teaching.”( 2 Tim. 4: 2,3). Due to rainy conditions, we could not hold the open-air crusade as initially planned. However, we met indoors at Trumpet of Zion’s auditorium. There was a deep sense of spiritual thirst and hunger by the people, and by the grace and strength of God, we were able to minister effectively to these needs. Thirty-seven people gave their lives to the Lord Jesus on Sunday morning and during the night services. There is more joy in Heaven over those precious souls (Luke 15:7). We worshiped and praised with excitement and jubilation, dancing to the glory of God for His visitation. We are excited to see God continue to move in the lives of our Liberian brothers and sisters!!

Serving God and His people is a privilege and a great pleasure. Rev. Sophia also taught the women how to prepare simple vegetable dishes, which were served for lunch to the participants on the last training day. Everyone enjoyed it, and it was a joyful moment of fellowship.

Rev. Sophia also had a chance to meet the lovely couple Mr. & Mrs. Reynolds, who sacrificially and with love hosted Rev. Sophia in their home during her missionary trips to Liberia. Please ask the Lord to remember them and to bless them continually for their hospitality and love.

Bong County August 2023 Update: Fertile for Growth:

The brethren and team at Blu-Mu, Totota are working hard on the vegetable farming project. They have cleared the land on Farm #1 and have prepared the nursery beds, which are now ready for transplant.

Missions 2022:
Hurdles along the journey to a sustainable and healthy Liberia

In 2019, we embarked on an agricultural initiative in Monrovia. We aimed to address the nutritional deficiencies in the area that contribute to the devastating rates of type-2 diabetes in the city and its surrounding villages. We were able to teach and offer agricultural training to over 350 people by connecting Monrovians with seeds and supplies from Ghana. This opened up doors to initiate local farming cohorts, who grow fresh fruits and vegetables to feed their communities in a very cost-effective way and also to create work opportunities for the youth.

After the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic had passed, we were able to return to Monrovia last year to follow up on our efforts. The families of two AIM partners offered up some land for use as demonstration sites for vegetable cultivation. We transported vegetable and fruit seeds to Liberia, and we were blessed to have two dedicated field workers and a part-time worker to oversee the projects.

Unfortunately, the unstable weather change in Monrovia negatively affected the vegetable farming project; it rained throughout the year causing significant erosion and destruction of the healthy roots. In effect, we ran at a loss and the project could not be salvaged. We took away some major lessons from this project and are praying to revamp our efforts with strategies that incorporate the lessons learned while continuing to reimagine a healthier, more sustainable Liberia.

Missions 2019:
Agriculture for Health and Wealth Training

In the Fall of 2019, Rev. Sophia Val-Addo spent six weeks in Liberia focusing in on this Agricultural Initiative. Ultimately, we believe that enhancing the health status of Monrovians while concurrently improving livelihood of communities in Monrovia and surrounding regions will help end malnutrition and poverty in this area.

Rev. Sophia worked hard to connect and collaborate with the local churches and communities in Monrovia to promote an “Agriculture for Health and Wealth” Program. This five-day Agricultural Training and Seminary was held at auditorium of the Zoe Louis Preparatory School. AIM initiated collaboration with representatives from CSIR-Crops Research Institute of Ghana, the Ministry of Agriculture in Liberia, local healthcare practitioners, agricultural Professors and some local farmers in Liberia. This multidisciplinary team worked together to present health education with an emphasis on agricultural training. The goal was to help reduce malnutrition and poverty through backyard and home gardening, small scale, or communal farming

Mrs. Naomi Willington, a healthcare practitioner, began the training with a talk on the impact of malnutrition on overall health. Various nurses followed throughout the five days with health-focused classes addressing local health issues. We were blessed to have Professor Leroy Cegbe, the Associate Dean of the William Tolbert Jr. College of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Liberia, Mr. William Farmah, a Senior Student of College of Agriculture, Liberia and Mr. Daniel Harris, a local farmer offering in classroom and hands on training for backyard, small or large-scale vegetable cultivation and fish farming.

Rev. & Mrs. Aphonso Korley, the Senior Ministers of Abundant Life Ministries were the host and coordinators for the Agricultural Training. Pastor Korley is a committed and dedicated minister whose hard work stood out to congregate about three-hundred and fifty (350) people to participate in the said program. Local journalists were present to cover and publish

the events of the training in the Liberian newspaper “The Inquirer.” The training was insightful and practical that most participants felt challenged and equipped to improve their livelihood. We continuously receive good feedback and updates of the impact of the five days Health Emphasis and Agricultural Training had on the local people.

Pastor A. B. Korley travelled to Ghana with Rev. Sophia after the training to purchase some vegetables and fruit seeds to continue the project. AIM was able to purchase $550.00 worth of seeds and supplies that were sent to Liberia for a pilot large-scale community vegetable farm for those who were ready to farm.

In the same way, there is more joy in heaven

over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven't strayed away!

- Luke 15:7

Defining the Problem

The devastation of the civil wars have negatively devastated the agriculture of Liberia. Staple foods such as cassava and rice are produced locally, however more nutritious fruits and vegetables are cultivated on a very small scale. Vegetables, fruits and eggs are mostly imported from neighboring countries such as Guinea and Cote D'ivoire. Thus, these nutritious and healthy foods are extremely expensive for the average person, leading to an over-consumption of the carbohydrate-dense rice and cassava staples. These have been linked to the drastic increase in the risk of many modifiable diseases such as type-2 diabetes that predominate in Liberia.

While in conversation with some key persons during the 2018 missions season about this particular topic, we were excited to know that something can be done about this. According to them, Liberia has some of the richest farmland for agriculture in West Africa. There are encouraging signs of awareness, receptivity for change and co-operation for solutions to the problem. We are committed to exploring and creating solutions to break the cycle of food scarcity, unhealthy nutrition and the risk of diabetes through an agricultural expansion in Liberia.