MONROVIA – Considering agriculture as the primary livelihood source for more than 60 percent of Liberia’s population, yes Liberia is richly endowed with water, mineral resources, forests, and a climate favorable to agriculture and its principal exports are iron ore, rubber, diamonds, and gold. Palm oil and cocoa are emerging as new export products but they are among the low-income country that relies heavily on foreign assistance with lack of food security for it citizens.
The Liberia Agriculture for National Development (LAND) has emerged not to reinvent wheels but to contribute to the agriculture sector. In starting this intervention LAND conducted a two days baseline household studies aims at gauging the different kind of agricultural activities in Bong County and identified the potential space for new incubation of agricultural investment for production, market harvesting and export.
The household study provided an opportunity to gathered first-hand information on the current state of agricultural activities in the county apart from reading all of the reports and during data analysis from the internet.
During the baseline study new ideas and situational analysis started to emerge and the study was divided in to component Key Informant Interviews KIIs and few Focus Group Discussion FGDs. One key respondent from the key informant interviews KIIs who is also a guru in the agriculture sector provided cogent information to the team in the field that will help the company in the future.
In addition, the baseline study was conducted on a small scare through a paper based approach. To ensure security and quality a one day intensive data collection training was conducted for enumerators and supervisors, the study piloted in two administrative districts Jorquelleh and Suakoko districts the rationale behind these two districts is where the company operation will starts and there are plans on the way to expand it operation in other parts of the county base on the first intervention. The study reached an estimated household of 600 with in the two administrative districts.
Speaking to this paper the head of the management team for the company in Liberia Emmanuel M. Mulbah lauded the team for the great work and inform the youth of Bong County that one of their own will be coming back to the county to open his company they should see it as an opportunity for them to take advantage of every steps along the way and most especially those young people who are agriculture students and agricultural professionals to muse this as the showiest way to job opportunity.