Liberia’s 20th President, Samuel Kayon Doe, had a dream to transform his county into a breadbasket in the sub-region through agriculture. Under a scheme, code named “Green Revolution”, Samuel Doe established large farms in Grand Gedeh to grow rice, cassava, potato, vegetables and cash crops.
Thirty-three (33) years after his death, the Green Revolution concept is still lingering in the minds of some conscious Liberians, among them President Doe’s Nephew, Zoe Emmanuel Pennue, who later became Senator of Grand Gedeh County.
Senator Zoe Emmanuel Pennue, alias ZP, was first elected to represent Grand Gedeh in the lower House of the National Legislature in 2005, but his love for agriculture, using local tools, soon made him a friend of the local farming community in the county, most of whom voted for him in the 2021 senatorial by-election that brought him to the Liberian Senate.
With himself taking part in most of the farming operation, several acres of land has been cultivated by Senator Pennue to grow rice, cassava, yam, vegetables and cash crops. Like uncle, like nephew, Zoe Pennue said his aim is to transform his county into a breadbasket for the nation, and to encourage his constituents to get involved with agriculture.
Speaking to the Hot Pepper ahead of next year’s farming season in Grand Gedeh County, Senator Pennue called on Grand Gedeans to use traditional farming methods to grow food, as the county is not equipped enough to engage into mechanized farming.
The Senator emphasized that the use of hoes, cutlasses and axes to till the land has been around for centuries, and should not be neglected by local farmers as they are low income earners.
He noted that the traditional farming method using locally made implement is the only reliable way to increase food production in the country for now. Senator Pennue however encouraged high income earners hailing from Grand Gedeh to return home and expand on the effort of local farmers by introducing mechanized farming.