What we do
Mixed farming, aggregation, finance and training in Nimba County. We grow rice, vegetables, livestock and oil palm in a system where each part feeds the next, and we help smallholders sell what they grow.
Our approach
How we farm
Our farming is designed to waste as little as possible and to rely on what the farm itself produces. That keeps costs down for members and protects the soil they depend on.
01
Circular farming
Oil palm, pigs and vegetables run as one loop, so by-products from one part of the farm become inputs for the next.
02
Low external inputs
We use on-farm resources such as manure and crop residues first, which raises farmers’ profit by cutting what they need to buy.
03
Crop rotation
Rotating crops breaks pest breeding cycles and replenishes soil nutrients, reducing the need for chemical fertiliser.
04
Knowledge and new crops
We introduce crops such as onion, tomato, lettuce and carrot, grown with non-chemical pest control under integrated pest management.
The circular model
One farm, one loop
By keeping residues and processing by-products inside the food system, we turn what would be waste into feed and fertiliser.
1
Oil palm
Fruit from our plantation is processed into red palm oil.
2
Palm kernel
Kernels are cracked and pressed into palm kernel oil for soap making and other uses.
3
Pig feed
The leftover kernel cake feeds our herd of more than 400 pigs.
4
Organic fertiliser
Pig manure fertilises our vegetables and maize, replacing synthetic fertiliser.
Measured results
Nine months of the STAR-P/LACF grant
Results from vegetable production and aggregation at Wlehlenlah Town, District #1, compared with the start of the project.
5 → 12 ha
Area under vegetables
More than doubled, with two production cycles a year.
+34%
Yield per hectare
Up from 3.25 to 4.36 metric tons per hectare.
+135%
Annual sales
Up from L$3.38 million to L$7.96 million.
500
Outside farmers linked to market
Non-member smallholders in Districts 1, 2 and 8 now sell through the cooperative.
Projects and partners
What partners have funded, and what it built
Each project below solved a specific problem for our members. Open a card for the details.
USADF · Signed 30 June 2023 · US$249,670 over 3 years
United States African Development Foundation grant
Implemented with EDUCARE-Liberia, this grant tackles the three things that held the cooperative back: no cash to buy members’ vegetables, no storage for perishable crops, and too little training.
What the grant funds
- A revolving fund that pays farmers when they deliver vegetables to the cooperative
- An input purchase fund for fertiliser (urea, NPK), approved pesticides and protective clothing
- A vegetable nursery and access to credit through Village Savings and Loan Associations
- A 6m by 10m cold storage platform, a 20 ft cold storage container and a 14m by 11m administrative office
Strengthening the cooperative
- Financial reporting and participatory monitoring training from EDUCARE-Liberia
- An accountant to set up accounting systems and train a successor from within the cooperative
- A three-year business plan to attract follow-on financing
- A quality control expert to improve performance and efficiency
Ministry of Agriculture · STAR-P and RETRAP · MoU 5 June 2023 · US$125,000
Emergency Rice Production Offensive
Part of a national push to grow more of Liberia’s staple food. The cooperative coordinates 500 hectares of lowland rice in Sanniquellie Mahn District for 81 farmer groups with 4,337 members.
Our responsibilities
- Develop work plans with milestones for the 500 hectares
- Support land clearing, nursery establishment, transplanting, weeding and harvest
- Run monitoring and extension visits so farmers hit their milestones
- Report progress to the STAR-P and RETRAP agronomy, food security and M&E teams
National context
The offensive targets 10,000 hectares across Bong, Lofa and Nimba counties, working with large-scale farmers, processors, cooperatives and smallholders. Nimba’s share is 2,000 hectares.
Ministry of Agriculture · STAR-P/LACF grant
Vegetable production and aggregation
A six-ton truck lets the cooperative collect vegetables at the farm gate, making it the market link for members and for hundreds of smallholders outside the cooperative.
Impact on members
- All 218 members at the time benefited, of whom 62% were women and 95% youth
- 15 members reported they could now pay for their children’s schooling, and others are replacing thatch roofs with corrugated roofing
- Lower transport costs and less drudgery for smallholders selling through the cooperative
A member-run VSLA
The cooperative used part of its revenue to start its own Village Savings and Loan Association. 50 members and 15 non-members have already used it to save and borrow.
FAO Liberia · 2018 · Funded by the UAE
Resilience grant for rural women
Through FAO’s programme for resilience, income, food security and nutrition for rural women, the cooperative received in-kind support that laid much of its foundation.
What it delivered
- A warehouse and a poultry house
- Seeds, agro-chemicals, tools and equipment including a power tiller and rice thresher
- Farmland clearing, irrigation and training
Training
Building skills that stay in the community
Through our Training of Trainers programme, members who are trained go on to teach others in their farming groups.
- Vegetable nursery management, from seed to transplant
- Good agricultural practices for higher, safer yields
- Environmental and safety risk mitigation, including safe chemical handling
- Farming as a business: records, costs and selling
- Financial reporting and monitoring for cooperative staff and management
Partner on the next season
We work with buyers, development partners and government agencies to move Liberian produce from the field to the market.