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The International Trade Centre (ITC) and the Farmers Union Network of Liberia (FUNL), in collaboration with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) have concluded a weeklong joint assessment field visit across five project counties: Bong, Nimba, Lofa, Bomi and Montserrado under the EU ACP Business Friendly Coffee Project of Liberia.
The exercise, which ran from July 28 to August 6, 2026, aimed to assess the progress of ongoing agricultural interventions, including beneficiaries’ knowledge of improved farming practices for production, harvesting, and processing, and of coffee bean marketing; to assess progress on demonstration farms; and to gather feedback on farmers’ challenges. The visit also sought to mobilize farmers for the seedling distribution initiated by the Liberia Agriculture Regulatory Authority (LACRA), IITA, and the Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI) under the Seed 4 Liberia Project.
During the exercise, staff from the ITC, FUNL, and IITA engaged farmers in the affected counties about increased adoption of good agronomic practices, the livelihood and economic impacts of farmers’ involvement in the project, sustainability issues, and the challenges they face.
The team observed that farmers’ knowledge of improved coffee cultivation has increased over the years, enabling replication on individual farms. However, challenges such as climate change, poor extension services, and limited access to markets and inputs currently limit farmers’ productivity.
The farmers said the training they learnt from demonstration farms was practical and useful, now giving them the confidence to manage their own farms.
“Previously, I did not know how to manage my old coffee farm. With the knowledge I gained, I was able to prune the farm and increase my harvest and income, which allowed me to build a house. However, climate change has seriously affected our harvest,” Makehbeh Konneh, a woman farmer in Quadoboni District, Lofa County, informed the team during the field visit.
Makehbeh said she and other farmers are looking forward to a future where coffee production will help them earn a more sustainable income to support their homes and send their children to school.
According to Madam Josephine Francis, President of FUNL, the experiences of the farmers reflect a broader trend of renewed interest and adoption of good practices that farmers can now replicate across the project counties.
“I can say that Liberia is going forward on coffee production. Thanks to the EU through the ITC for bringing this project to Liberia. We are now looking to the government to increase support to the coffee sector to improve the lives of more rural people”.
Since the project’s inception in 2021, approximately 27 demonstration plots have been established in the affected counties to train farmers. Experts have been brought into the country to train farmers in improved techniques. The project has also worked with the Cooperative Development Agency (CDA) to transform farming groups into cooperatives to access better markets, trained roasters and baristas, linked farmers with buyers to improve income, and sponsored several actors for conferences to provide them with knowledge and exposure to the global coffee industry.
The goal is to revamp the coffee sub-sector of Liberia to improve the livelihood of rural citizens.
About the EU ACP Business Coffee Project in Liberia
The EU ACP Business Friendly Coffee Project is financed by the European Union, aiming to support the development of the private sector in the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. In Liberia, the project is being implemented by ITC alongside the Farmers Union Network of Liberia, a member of ACRAM, in collaboration with the Government of Liberia.
