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Josiah Pailay /[email protected] /+231881913880-+231775260307
Gbarnga, Bong County — The Liberia Special Agro-Processing Zone (SAPZ) Project, implemented by the Urban Association in partnership with the National Investment Commission (NIC), has concluded a three-day training workshop aimed at strengthening the country’s agro-cooperative sector.
Held in Gbarnga, Bong County, the capacity-building exercise brought together cooperative leaders from Bong, Grand Bassa, Grand Cape Mount, and Nimba Counties. The training focused on modernizing cooperative structures, improving farm productivity, and promoting climate-smart agriculture to enhance food security and rural livelihoods.
Topics covered included cooperative governance and management, member engagement, sustainable farming practices, eco-friendly techniques, rice and aquaculture production, record keeping, tree crop and vegetable marketing, and value chain development.
Facilitators were drawn from the public sector, civil society, and agribusiness. The sessions combined technical presentations with real-world case studies, enabling participants to translate theory into practice.
Delivering the keynote address, Mr. Robert Ben Taylor, Bong County Agriculture Coordinator, hailed the initiative as timely and impactful.
“Our goal is to ensure that cooperatives are not just formed in name but are structured, functional, and economically vibrant,” Taylor said. “This training underscores the importance of sustainability, knowledge sharing, and innovation in Liberia’s agricultural transformation.”
Also speaking, Mr. Mark Y. Yarnlay, NIC Coordinator in Bong County, emphasized the need for greater private sector engagement to revive agriculture.
“Agriculture is the backbone of every nation, and Liberia is no exception,” Yarnlay noted. “We must return to the soil. This project is laying a foundation for a stronger, more resilient agro-economy.”
According to Yarnlay, 55 cooperatives across the four counties—15 each in Bong, Cape Mount, and Nimba, and 10 in Grand Bassa—are currently benefiting from the SAPZ initiative. The project aims to connect rural producers to markets and processing hubs while addressing systemic challenges in agriculture.
Despite employing over 70 percent of Liberia’s workforce, the agriculture sector contributes less than 40 percent to the national GDP, due to factors such as low productivity, limited infrastructure, and weak cooperative systems.
The SAPZ project, supported by development partners and coordinated by NIC, seeks to reverse these trends by promoting agro-industrial zones and improving access to finance, mechanization, and agri-tech.
Participants lauded the training for its relevance and practical benefits. Madam Sarah Kollie, Chairlady of the Bong Women’s Farmers Cooperative, described the experience as transformative.
“We’ve learned how to organize better, market better, and farm smarter,” she said. “With this kind of support, we’re no longer just farming to eat—we’re farming to build wealth.”
Organizers say the training will be replicated in other counties, with follow-up activities planned to track progress and ensure sustainable outcomes.
