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By LAEJN Editorial Team
Liberia’s agricultural sector has reaffirmed its pivotal role in national economic recovery, according to the World Bank’s Sixth Liberia Economic Update released in September 2025. The report, “From Stabilization to Inclusion, Pathways to Resilient Growth and Productive Jobs,” highlights agriculture as the primary driver of Liberia’s 4.0% GDP growth in 2024, contributing an estimated 1.3 percentage points to overall expansion.
This performance marks a significant turnaround from 2023, when the sector recorded only modest gains of 1.4%. The World Bank attributes the rebound to robust output in rubber and rice, two of the country’s most critical commodities, supported by favorable global prices, improved infrastructure, and targeted public investment.
Rubber, Liberia’s leading export earner, grew by nearly 18% after contracting by 2% in 2023. This surge was largely driven by a 26% rise in international prices and enhanced harvesting and transport conditions. Domestic rice production, a key determinant of food security, also rose by 8.5%, aided by government-backed initiatives in mechanization, irrigation, and lowland rice development. These trends collectively signal increasing resilience and productivity within the sector.
The Ministry of Agriculture described the findings as “validation” of ongoing reforms under the leadership of Minister Dr. J. Alexander Nuetah, emphasizing that current policy directions centered on mechanization, infrastructure development, and climate-smart production are beginning to yield tangible economic dividends.
“This report confirms that our focus on mechanization, irrigation, and domestic production is the right path for Liberia,” Dr. Nuetah noted. “Agriculture remains the backbone of our economy and the foundation for inclusive, job-rich growth.”
However, the Ministry also acknowledged persistent structural bottlenecks that continue to constrain sectoral competitiveness, including declining palm oil output, inadequate access to agricultural finance, and limited progress in value addition. Addressing these constraints, the Ministry has intensified efforts to promote public–private partnerships (PPPs), strengthen agro-processing capacity, and build rural entrepreneurship ecosystems aimed at transforming smallholder farmers into agribusiness actors.
“We are not just producing more food; we are building a new generation of agricultural entrepreneurs,” Dr. Nuetah added. “Our goal is to make agriculture a driver of livelihoods, poverty reduction, and resilience across rural Liberia.”
The Ministry is urging greater collaboration among development partners, financial institutions, and the private sector to unlock investment opportunities along the value chain, particularly in processing, storage, market access, and climate-resilient technologies.
The World Bank report’s findings suggest that sustained growth in agriculture could anchor Liberia’s transition from stabilization to inclusive development provided that value addition and rural infrastructure investment continue to accelerate.
In its August 2025 report, the FAO identified Liberia among a small group of African nations — including Gambia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe — that succeeded in reducing hunger levels between 2021 and 2023, despite steep increases in global food prices. Across Africa, food inflation rose from 2.3 percent in 2020 to 13.6 percent in 2023, with some countries experiencing even sharper price spikes. Yet, Liberia and its peers achieved a 1.2 to 2 percent decline in hunger prevalence, a sign of policy effectiveness amid global disruption.
The FAO attributes these outcomes to targeted national responses — including social protection programs, tax relief on essential food items, and agricultural subsidies — that helped stabilize household access to food and strengthen domestic production. Importantly, these countries also avoided restrictive trade measures, preventing market distortions that could have worsened shortages and inflation.
This recognition aligns closely with findings from the World Bank’s Sixth Liberia Economic Update (September 2025), which highlighted agriculture as the primary driver of Liberia’s 4.0% GDP growth in 2024.
The convergence of the FAO and World Bank assessments underscores a broader narrative of agricultural resilience in Liberia. Together, the reports suggest that sound agricultural policy, combined with fiscal discipline and targeted social protection, helped Liberia mitigate the worst effects of global food and fuel price shocks between 2020 and 2024.
While other low-income, import-dependent economies saw worsening hunger and inflation, Liberia’s coordinated policy actions, ranging from support to smallholder farmers to investments in infrastructure and climate-smart agriculture, laid the groundwork for both economic recovery and improved food security.
