Available data shows that women account for eighty-five percent of the agricultural labor force of Liberia, as they play an important role in the management of food production.
Despite the critical position and contribution of women in agriculture, women are often discriminated against, preventing them from acquiring ownership, access to and control of land.
In Liberia, agriculture constitutes a significant fragment of the country’s economy. As in many parts of Africa, more than two-thirds of Liberia’s population are involved in subsistence agriculture, using very rudimentary but outdated technology. One of the notable female agriculturists in the country, Zobo Luther, told reporters who visited her farm on Wednesday in Jorquelleh District, Bong County, that with her passion for agriculture, she was bent on working towards closing the gender gap in agriculture in Liberia.
Zobo, who has a Master’s degree in Agronomy and Plant Breeding from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, said she purchased 75 acres of land upon completion of her studies in 2015 and she has so far cultivated 15 acres with a variety of different cash crops. She said she had planted coconuts, beans, rice, eddoes, plantains, cassava and other cash crops on the farm.
She expatiated, “I intend to cultivate the entire land with different cash crops including perennial crops like oil palm or cocoa. Women have not comprehended their economic influence alongside their male counterparts. When women have equal access to on-farm assets like land, labor, extension, and credit for other inputs, this can increase agricultural yields, which in turn leads to increased income”. She declared that although the sector is male-dominated, she was determined to meet all the challenges.
