Liberia Ministry of Agriculture disputes livestock budget allocation

The Liberian Ministry of Agriculture is disputing budget figures cited in the national government’s budget books regarding the ArcelorMittal Liberia Signature Bonus Allocation. While some reports suggest a $3 million line item was allocated for livestock and poultry value chain production, the ministry claims this figure does not appear in its approved books.

According to the ministry, its total FY2026 appropriation is $10,495,326. This includes $3,477,083 for basic salaries, $1,812,159 for goods and services, and $5,150,500 for the Public Sector Investment Program (PSIP). The PSIP is divided into $3.2 million for food and cash crop production and $1.95 million for livestock and poultry production.

The ministry stated that the supplemental appropriation received from the $200 million ArcelorMittal signature bonus was only $358,078, which is significantly lower than the $4.5 million total ($3 million for livestock and $1.5 million for general agriculture) recorded in Annex 7 of the national budget.