Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises

Project Dates: February 2008 – June 2010

Country: Liberia

Alliance: ACDI/VOCA, US Department of Agriculture (USDA), World Cocoa Foundation, Liberian Department of Agriculture, local governments, and financial institutions

Implementers: ACDI/VOCA, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture/Sustainable Tree Crops Program

Overview

The Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) project is working with 5,600 smallholder cocoa farmers to address constraints in the cocoa value chain and to mitigate livelihood risk to smallholder farmers through diversification of revenue sources.  The project is active in seven districts of Nimba, Bong and Lofa Counties.

Program Objectives:

• Farmer training: Training of smallholder farmers in cocoa production, crop diversification, pest management, post-harvest handling, marketing and farming as a business.

• Nursery, seedling production and tree rehabilitation:  Supporting production and distribution of cocoa seedlings through the establishment of nurseries and rehabilitation of cocoa trees through pest management and possibly side grafting when appropriate material is identified.

• Farmer organization and increased market access: Strengthening of farmer cooperatives or organizations to function as profitable commercial enterprises; introducing farmer organization concepts to individual farmers with the objective of forming new farmer groups; and improving farmers’ access to markets and prices received.

• Access to credit:  Promoting improved access to credit for cocoa farmers and their organizations by training farmers in requirements and responsibilities; and providing assistance to lending institutions on sustainable agricultural credit.

Progress to Date:

• 4,365 farmers trained through farmer field schools.  Farmers were trained by 48 facilitators in Bong and Lofa Counties on topics such as crop production, diversification, post-harvest handling and marketing.  Additionally, approximately 2,500 farmers were trained in crop diversification.  Farmer Field School participants developed 39 nurseries and provided 481,843 improved cocoa seedlings.

• 17 farmer associations supported.  12 new associations were formed and continuing support has been given to 5 existing associations; a total of 8 associations have been legally recognized.  The associations, formed in Bong, Lofa and Nimba Counties, represent a total of 3,742 farmers. Associations provide services including cocoa and produce marketing. The associations were trained in financial planning and management, warehouse receipts, and quality control.

• 2,082 farmers trained in Farming as a Business concepts.  As a result of the training, at least 1,000 farmers are now keeping farm records. 

• 2,016 farmers trained on access to credit.  Farmers learned about credit access including understanding loan application requirements and repayment responsibilities.  Technical assistance was provided to three financial institutions to improve their understanding of farmer creditworthiness and develop credit schemes for farmers and farmer associations.

 

Success story: For Cocoa Marketing "Knowledge is Better than Silver and Gold"

Success story: Association Restores Farmer's Hope for Cocoa Business