 |
| Stakeholders at the recent event |
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Liberia, in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), has announced the implementation of the Strengthening Agricultural Resilience through Transformational Livelihood Adaptation (SARTLA) project, with a budget of USD 10 million.
During the inaugural workshop held on July 22, 2024, Deputy
Executive Director, Honorable Dweh Boley, highlighted that Liberia, through
UNDP, will receive USD 10 million from the Global Environment Facility’s Least
Developed Countries Fund to execute the SARTLA Project. This initiative aims to
enhance the resilience of Liberia’s agricultural sector in the face of climate
change impacts.
Honorable Boley shared that the Environmental Protection
Agency and the United Nations Development Programme in Liberia have been
collaborating on the Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Transformation Learning
Alliance (SARTLA) Project, funded by the Global Environment Facility’s Least
Developed Countries Fund (LDCF). He expressed his delight in announcing that
the SARTLA Project has achieved a significant milestone by initiating the
project preparatory grant (PPG) phase.
He elaborated that the PPG phase aligns with the Global
Environment Facility (GEF) Project Cycle, which entails engaging key
stakeholders and seeking their valuable input for integration into the
comprehensive project document.
The Deputy Executive Director of the EPA emphasized the
significance of agriculture, emphasizing its substantial contribution to
economic growth and its involvement of almost 70% of Liberia's 5.4 million
people. Nevertheless, he recognized that climate change is having a negative
impact on the agricultural industry, causing disruptions to planting seasons
and an increase in livestock diseases.
Boley expressed his gratitude for the participation of attendees in this significant inception workshop and emphasized the importance of aligning the SARTLA Project formulation with key national documents like the National Climate Change Policy and Response Strategy, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and the National Adaptation Plan (NAP).
He further stated that President Joseph N. Boakai’s ARREST
Agenda is designed to enhance agricultural productivity, ensuring Liberia’s
self-sufficiency in crop and livestock cultivation, and elevate the quality of
life for individuals engaged in the agricultural sector, which has a
substantial impact on the entire population.
Boley concluded by stating that the EPA expects that the
results of this meeting will play a part in creating a thorough project
proposal that will address the vulnerabilities of extremely fragile counties in
Liberia and enhance their ability to withstand the impacts of climate change in
the agriculture sector.