Findings:

• As in most developing countries, agriculture in Liberia is foundational to the country’s poverty alleviation efforts. Agriculture is the main source of livelihood in Liberia, employing nearly 50 percent of the labor force and providing a livelihood to about two-thirds of the population.
• Liberia’s agriculture sector is a fundamental component of Liberia’s economy, and in 2021 accounted for 37 percent of GDP.
• Despite the agricultural sector’s importance in the economy, its share of GDP has nearly halved since 2003—coinciding with the end of the country’s second civil war. It is likely that workers have been pushed from agriculture to the service sector due to the low productivity of the agricultural sector.
• A recent assessment of food insecurity in Liberia by the FAO estimates that 83.6 percent of households were affected by moderate to severe food insecurity in 2020. The rate is particularly high due to the disruption of most economic activities by the COVID-19 pandemic. As with poverty, a more granular analysis reveals that crop producers are the most vulnerable group to food insecurity with 90 percent of them compromising on food quality and variety, skipping meals, or going without food for a day or more.
• The diet of Liberian’s revolves around its main staple, rice, and most farmers devote some of their farmland to the crop. Simultaneous shocks from COVID-19, rising global food prices, and the looming threat of climate change mean that the availability of the staple moving forward, and the food security of Liberians is at stake.
• The development of the agricultural sector is key to poverty reduction and food security. Most poor and food insecure households gain their livelihoods from agriculture. The share of households that are involved in agriculture decreases by welfare decile, but agriculture is quite common even among those who are better off. Among the poorest of the poor, nearly 7 out of 10 households rely on agriculture for their livelihoods.
• Liberian farmers’ average landholdings and yields are likely insufficient for households to achieve self-sufficiency. Low yields are in part due to farming households’ limited use of inputs, even among better-off farming households. Access to extension services also seems quite rare with less than 5 percent of farming households having received any type of extension. Access to credit
• is also uncommon with less than 5 percent of farming households having accessed credit for their agricultural activities. Family labor seems to constitute the majority of labor used in farming activities.
• Perhaps most worrying is the lack of diversification among farming households. Agricultural diversification can act as a risk mitigation strategy which makes it essential to cope with the perils of climate change.
• A considerable constraint to the country’s food distribution is the poor quality of roads in the country.
• In Liberia, climate change could wreak havoc on the country’s agricultural sector. Climate change is expected to affect all dimensions of food security through the impact on agricultural production and the income generating capacity of households, food prices, markets, and other components of the food system. The threat posed to agriculture by climate change is believed to be managed by increasing the adaptive capacity of farmers and increasing resilience and resource efficiency.
• Implementing a climate smart agriculture (CSA) approach in Liberia will not be easy. The remoteness could limit the spread of new technologies. Additionally, the population’s limited literacy among people in rural areas severely constrains
• the learning of new methods and approaches.

Policy recommendations:

• Beyond road networks, there is a large need for investments in agriculture-specific infrastructure, such as irrigation systems and storage facilities.
• Strengthening land tenure by registering customary land could reduce land disputes, foster women’s empowerment, and lead to increased agriculture productivity and more sustainable concession agreements.
• Improved technical efficiency and agricultural productivity could be instrumental toward achieving sustainable poverty reduction.
• Finally, climate change will present a considerable challenge to the agricultural sector of the country putting at risk food security, increasing poverty, and putting in peril human capital. Small farmers will need access to climate resilient crops which are suitable for Liberia’s soils are needed to mitigate the impact. In addition, the government will need to expand extension services, and these should promote more sustainable agricultural practices that will help farmers adapt. Government and other stakeholders should develop and implement insurance schemes that can help farmers stay above water in case of shocks.