By Emma Black

The Ministry of Youth Affairs (MOYA) and the Produce Monitoring Board (PMB) unveiled a dynamic partnership to spearhead a national youth-led cash crop initiative, on June 23, 2025, targeting enhanced employment and agricultural productivity.

Minister of Youth Affairs, Hon. Ibrahim Sannoh, unveiled a bold strategic plan centering on cocoa, oil palm, cashew, and bamboo. The vision includes youth-managed centers with 15,000 trees each, comprehensive skills training, centralized processing units, and resource hubs to boost value addition and market competitiveness.

PMB Executive Chairman Mr. Raymond Katta embraced the initiative, aligning it with the government’s goal of creating 500,000 new jobs. Director of Operations Mr. Didan Sankoh outlined PMB’s focus areas production, processing, value addition, quality control, and marketing emphasizing training as a key pillar.

Key agreements include MOYA submitting a detailed strategy to PMB by June 25, forming a joint technical working group, drafting a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), and scheduling a follow-up meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security next week to share outcomes.

The session wrapped with Minister Sannoh spotlighting the oil palm sector as a profitable model, underscoring the transformative potential of youth-led agricultural investment.

Copyright –Published in Expo Times News on Monday, 30th June, 2025 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)