In Summary: A Facebook page bearing the name and logo of the Ministry of Agriculture has posted information about a grant opportunity for farmers, we have checked both the page and the information and found them to be fake and misleading.
On March 25, a Facebook page “Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Liberia” with the same profile photo as the official Facebook page of the Ministry of Agriculture made a post about grant opportunities for farmers.
The post, which generated over 400 comments and was shared about 90 times as of the time of production of this fact check, contains a link to a Google Doc form where interested farmers are asked to submit their application.
The comments were largely commendation to the government and expression of interest in the purported grant opportunity. We checked the authenticity of this grant opportunity.
Claim
ANNOUNCEMENT!! GOOD NEWS TO OUR BELOVED FARMERS!! Through Our Ministry of Agricultures love for the development of Agriculture, they have decided to partner with Farmers Business Network and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Through this partnership they came into a conclusion to release grant to our farmers to help our country boost our Agricultural sector and improve the lives of our farmers. Cooperatives, Companies and individual farmers who wish to benefit from this are advised to send their applications via the link here >
Rating Justification
The post, which has several grammatical errors, was shared with photos of former Minister of Agriculture, Madam Jeannie Cooper in what appears to be a meeting in a board room.
But our verification of the images shows that the photos were taken when a delegation from the French Embassy near Monrovia visited the former Minister.
Our search of the photos shared in the Facebook post also found that the photos were first posted on the official Facebook page of the Ministry of Agriculture on November 19, 2021.
To further verify the photos, we searched the official Facebook page and website of the Ministry of Agriculture but did not see any information about grant opportunities for farmers to apply for through a Google doc form.
Rather, we saw a press release issued on March 20, by the Ministry refuting news of a “false grant approval letter”.
The release said, “The Ministry of Agriculture- the Republic of Liberia strongly denounces the disseminating of fraudulent information purportedly originating from our office regarding grant funds for farming/agribusiness program”.
We also checked the websites of the Farmers Business Network and the International Fund for Agriculture but did not see any information about partnering with the Ministry of Agriculture to provide grants for farmers in Liberia.
Also, we verified the Facebook page sharing the purported grant opportunity and found that although it uses the same profile and cover photos as the official page of the Ministry of Agriculture, the page does not have the same name as the official page.
The official page of the Ministry was created on April 5, 2020, and has over 7,000 (seven thousand) followers – it is named Ministry of Agriculture Liberia-MOA Liberia.
For the purported Facebook page, it was created on February 7 with the name “Agriculture and Climate Change Sierra Leone” and on the same day, it was created the name was changed to Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Liberia.
Up to the publication of this fact check, the page had 91 followers and 53 likes.
The official page of the Ministry of Agriculture was created on April 5, 2020, and it shares credible information about the Ministry.
Conclusion
Based on these facts, we, therefore, conclude that the post that the Ministry of Agriculture is partnering with Farmers Business Network and the International Fund for Agriculture Development to provide grants for farmers in Liberia to apply through a Google Doc form is fake and misleading.
Also, the Facebook page posting the information is not the official page of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Liberia.
The page was created on February 7 this year and changed its name on the same day to Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.