Liberia’s untapped potential: What the new agriculture census and survey reveal

Women play a central role but continue to face structural disadvantages

The census and survey also reveal the important but constrained role of women in Liberia’s agriculture sector.

Women are heavily involved in agricultural labor, particularly in planting and weeding activities, while men dominate land preparation and fencing. Yet women continue to face disadvantages in land ownership, education, and access to productive resources.

Only about 14.5% of women in agricultural households possess ownership or secure rights over agricultural land, compared to roughly 19% of men. Female-headed households also exhibit significantly higher rates of illiteracy than male-headed households.

Closing these gender gaps could significantly enhance agricultural productivity, strengthen household welfare, and improve food security outcomes.

Limited access to finance continues to constrain transformation

Perhaps one of the most striking findings is how few agricultural households receive external support.

According to the 2024 survey, access to external support remains very limited. Only 1.8% of agricultural holdings received subsidies, 11.5% accessed loans, and just 4.7% benefited from agricultural transfers. These figures suggest that the vast majority of smallholders continue to rely primarily on personal savings, informal borrowing, and family labor to sustain production.

Without greater access to finance, extension services, storage facilities, and market infrastructure, Liberia’s agricultural transformation is likely to remain slow and uneven.

A new agricultural data era creates new opportunities

Beyond the findings themselves, the agriculture census and survey represent an important institutional milestone for Liberia.

The 2022/23 Agriculture Census was Liberia’s first agriculture census since 1971 and the country’s first digitally conducted agricultural census. Supported through World Bank’s regional statistics operation, Harmonizing and Improving Statistics in West Africa (HISWA), and the 50×2030 Initiative, it created a modern sampling frame that can support the regular production of nationally representative agricultural statistics.

This shift toward evidence-based agricultural policymaking comes at a critical moment as Liberia seeks to advance its ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID 2025-2029), where agriculture is expected to play a central role in economic transformation, employment creation, and poverty reduction.

The data now clearly show that Liberia possesses many of the core ingredients needed for agricultural and agribusiness transformation, including abundant land resources, a large agricultural workforce, strong domestic food demand, and expanding rural market activity. In other words, the country is not starting from scratch. The fundamentals are already in place, and with the right investments and policy support, they could provide the foundation for a more productive, commercialized, and resilient agricultural economy.

The challenge now is turning that potential into inclusive and sustainable growth.