CHAP to launch ‘I Love Liberian Rice’ campaign tomorrow

The Community of Hope Agricultural Project (CHAP), a local non-profit organization will on Wednesday, April 24, 2019, officially launch the “I Love Liberian Rice” campaign.

The launch which will take place at the Paynesville City Hall in Paynesville City is expected to bring together rice farmers, policymakers, agricultural professionals and international organizations that are partnering with the Liberian government.

In an exclusive interview with AgriGrind, Robert Bimba, the Executive Director of CHAP says that the initiative is to raise the awareness of opportunities that the rice sector possesses.

He says that the campaign has two major objectives that can help reshape Liberia’s rice sector.

“This initiative is meant to bring high-quality Liberian rice to the market. One of the major objectives is to make the Liberian rice competitive to imported rice in term of price and quality.
“Another major objective of this whole campaign is to raise the awareness of taking ownership. It is time that every Liberian takes ownership and make use of what we have and stop waiting for donors or the government,” he says.

The campaign aims to encourage individuals to purchase sticker which CHAP has printed with its campaign title. Explaining the rationale of the strategy, Bimba says finance raised will increase farmers access to cash and help bring needed equipment to farming communities across the country.

“The one dollar is to buy rice from farmers so that they are supported with finance to do more of their farming activities. We can buy small equipment that can be managed with the conditions that we have in our country but can [help] bring high-quality Liberian rice to the market.
“We think every Liberian has a dollar. They are not empty. They have something to contribute to the development of the rice sector,” says Bimba.