FY 13 Food for Progress LIVELIHOOD 
IMPROVEMENT FOR FARMING ENTERPRISES (LIFE) III 
in Liberia
USDA AGREEMENT NO. FCC-669-2013/040-00 
Funding year: 2013
Project Duration: FY 13- FY 16
Implemented by: ACDI/VOCA
BASELINE SURVEY REPORT 
FEBRUARY 2015
This publication was produced for review by the United States Department of Agriculture. It was prepared by 
ACDI/VOCA. 
DISCLAIMER: This publication was produced at the request of the United States Department of Agriculture. It was prepared by 
an independent third-party evaluation firm. The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views 
of the United States Department of Agriculture or the United States Government.
Accessibility Note: An accessible version of this document can be made available by contacting 
fas.monitoring.evaluation@usda.gov 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
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CONTENTS 
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................................. 2
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................................ 2
List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................ 4
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 9
2. Baseline Survey Methodology ................................................................................................................ 9
2.1. Aim and Objectives .................................................................................................................9
2.2. Evaluation Methodologies .....................................................................................................10
2.2.1. Team Composition ..............................................................................................................10
2.2.2. Sampling Methodologies ....................................................................................................10
2.2.3. Data Collection Methodology .............................................................................................11
2.2.4. Data entry and analysis .......................................................................................................12
2.2.5. Discussions of Limitations ...................................................................................................12
3. Survey Findings .................................................................................................................................... 13
3.1. Survey Population .................................................................................................................13
3.1.1. Description of household head ...........................................................................................14
3.1.2. Household economic security .............................................................................................14
3.1.3. Household labor distribution ..............................................................................................14
3.2. Training: Farm Management ................................................................................................. 14
3.2.1. Training on improved agricultural techniques and technologies .......................................15
3.2.2. Application of approved agricultural techniques and technologies ...................................15
3.2.3. Farm level Productivity .......................................................................................................17
3.2.4. Application of improved farm management practices .......................................................17
3.3. Producer Organization Capacity Building ...............................................................................18
3.3.1. Structure and function of the CDA ......................................................................................18
3.3.2. Producer group membership ..............................................................................................18
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
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3.3.3. Leadership structure and governance ................................................................................19
3.3.4. Financial management of producer groups ........................................................................19
3.3.5. Cocoa bulking capacity of producer organization ...............................................................20
3.4. Financial Services: Facilitate Financial Lending .......................................................................20
3.4.1. Village Savings and Loan Clubs............................................................................................21
3.4.2. Pre-finance loans from exporters to cooperatives .............................................................21
3.5. Develop Agrodealers .............................................................................................................22
3.5.1. Availability of improved cocoa inputs to farmers ...............................................................22
3.5.2. Partnership between private agrodealers and farmer groups ...........................................23
3.6. Market Access: Improved Market Information .......................................................................23
3.7. Women’s Empowerment in Cocoa Production .......................................................................24
4. Conclusions and Recommendations.......................................................................................25
4.1. Conclusions ..........................................................................................................................25
4.2. Recommendations ................................................................................................................26
List of Tables 
Table 1 Summary of LIFE III Indicators and Baseline Findings ...................................................................... 7
Table 2 Population distribution by county ..................................................................................................11
Table 3 Characteristics of population by gender ........................................................................................13
Table 4 Household labor distribution .........................................................................................................14
Table 5 New and rehabilitated farm characteristics ...................................................................................16
Table 6 Improved inputs available to farmers ............................................................................................23
Table 7 Recommended revisions and proposed Indicators ........................................................................28
List of Figures 
Figure 1 Age Distribution of Survey Population ..........................................................................................13
Figure 2 Applied cocoa husbandry techniques ...........................................................................................16
Figure 3 Percentage of farmers practicing improved farm management ..................................................18
Figure 4 Percentage of shareholders membership per producer group by county ...................................19
Figure 5 MT of Liberian cocoa exports vs. association sales.......................................................................20
Figure 6 Loan repayment of producer groups ............................................................................................22
Figure 7 Media sources of market information ..........................................................................................24
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
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List of Acronyms
CARI Central Agriculture Research Institute 
CDA Cooperative Development Agency 
CWAP Center for Women Agriculture Program 
FAAB Farming as a Business 
FFS Farmer Field School 
FGD Focus Group Discussion 
GAP Good Agricultural Practices 
ICPM Integrated Crop and Pest Management 
IITA International Institute of Tropical Agriculture 
INGO International Non – Governmental Organizations 
KII Key Informant Interview 
LAADCO Liberia Agricultural and Asset Development Cooperative 
LBA Local Buying Agents 
LIFE Livelihood Improvement of Farming Enterprise 
LPMC Liberia Produce Marketing Corporation 
MOCI Ministry of Commerce and Industry 
NAPEX National Apex of Village Savings and Loan Clubs 
PRD Plant, Replant, and diversification 
UNCDF United Nations Capital Development Fund 
USDA United States Department of Agriculture 
VSLC Village Saving and Loan Clubs 
WOCCU World Council of Credit Unions 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
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Executive Summary
The Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises, Phase III (LIFE III) is a three year, USDA￾funded project awarded to ACDI/VOCA. The $ 7.4 million project runs from October 2013 to 
September 2016 with the objective of improving the livelihoods of smallholder cocoa farmers 
by increasing farm-level productivity and profitability; strengthening capacity of producer 
groups; facilitating agricultural lending; developing agro-dealers and improving access to 
market information. The project covers six of the 15 counties in Liberia – Nimba, Lofa, Bong, 
Grand Gedeh, River Gee and Gbarpolu Counties. The primary objective of the baseline study is 
to assess the pre-project conditions of the project beneficiary population. The information will 
be used to shape LIFE III activity design and will also be used to measure the impact of LIFE III 
interventions. 
To assess the pre-intervention situation of the targeted beneficiaries, the project’s field officers 
were trained on the data collection instrument to interview and measure the farms of 372 
sampled cocoa farmer households. 
Of the surveyed population 61percent have their own cocoa farms and are the head of 
household; 9percent of the household head are female while 91percent are male. Most of the 
cocoa farms are owned by men; only 34percent of the total farms surveyed are jointly owned. 
Seventy-four percent of farms owned by female farmers are inherited from their parents; they 
own the cocoa farms when they had no male siblings or when their male siblings had traveled 
away. Of the total sampled household, only 7percent have formalized title to their farmland, 
either legal title or tribal certificate. Eighty-three percent of the farmland is owned through 
traditional conferment like inheritance and informal family arrangements with no document 
authenticating the ownership of the land. Survey results show that 66percent have no 
education or only primary education while 30percent attained secondary education and 
3percent tertiary education. 
The prerequisite to enrollment in the LIFE program is graduating from farmer field school where 
improved cocoa husbandry techniques are taught. 5,376 smallholder cocoa farmers graduated 
from 60 FFS during previous phases of the project. However, the adoption of improved 
techniques is low with only 20percent of the newly enrolled beneficiaries observed to be 
applying any 4 of the 6 recommended practices while 27percent of the continuing beneficiaries 
were observed in the LIFE II final evaluation to have adopted the practices; the weighted 
average for both new and continuing users was calculated to be 24percent. Some of the 
reasons contributing to the low adoption of those practices include: weak extension services, 
labor intensiveness of farm maintenance and high cost of cocoa specific fertilizers and other 
chemicals. On average, farmers are maintaining 0.9 hectare of their farmland with improved 
cocoa husbandry techniques. 
Smallholder farmers are cultivating an average land area of 1 hectare with 180 kg seasonal 
harvest. Due to post-harvest losses, the average sale value is reduced by 5percent which gives 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
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farmer the average revenue of $200. Nevertheless, there are about 26percent of the farmers 
producing more than the average seasonal harvest of 180kg; those farmers were observed to 
be applying recommended cocoa husbandry techniques such as under-brushing the farm, 
removing and disposing diseased pods and cutting unwanted branches to boost the trees 
fertility. 
Application of improved farm management practices is a serious challenge. Thirty-four percent
of the newly enrolled beneficiaries that were interviewed in this baseline survey are practicing 
at least two of the four recommended farm management practices, which is higher than 
27percent of the continuing beneficiaries that were performing at least two of the farm 
management practices during the LIFE II final evaluation. The weighted average for both old 
and continuing beneficiaries for this indicator is 31percent. As evident from the data on 
education standard, 66percent of the farmers are illiterate resulting in a large number unable 
to practice recommended farm management such as keeping record, work planning, budgeting 
etc. 
The Cooperative Development Agency (CDA) – a government bureau responsible for 
strengthening cooperatives in Liberia – has limited staff in the field; there are 14 field officers 
stretch across the fifteen (15) counties. The staff have not had any standard training on 
cooperative governance and administration; financial management and conflict resolution. The 
staff only received brief orientation on CDA’s mandate and then deploy to their assigned 
counties. Moreover, the limited operational support to field staff has constrained routine 
supervision. 
There are 31 farmer groups present in the project targeted communities – 8 cooperatives and 
23 associations – with the general membership of 4,782 (3631 men, 1151 women). The groups 
have poor management structures which results in declining membership and high risk of the 
groups collapsing. Besides the sale of cocoa beans, 15percent of the surveyed beneficiaries are 
processing sub-grade of cocoa to produce byproducts such as soap. 
Thirty-three percent of the households interviewed reported receiving financial services; the 
average loan farmers are receiving is $125. Eighty percent of the loan is spent on cocoa farm 
maintenance while 10percent is used to feed the household and 10percent is used to pay 
school fees and other household expenses. Thirty-nine percent of the respondent received loan 
from VSLCs. Farmers are also benefiting from value-chain financing arrangements. Farmer 
associations received approximately $37,600 from exporters as the result of twelve value-chain 
arrangements which benefits 4,170 smallholder cocoa farmers. 
Four local businesses are present in the targeted communities providing new and improved 
agricultural inputs including seed varieties and inputs. Those agro-dealers have signed 
commercial agreement with five producer groups to continuously supply new and improved 
agricultural packages. However, the agreements are not legal-binding and are not dependable. 
Despite the availability of improved agricultural inputs, only 42percent of the surveyed 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
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population is promulgating improved cocoa seedlings on an average land area of 0.9 hectare 
per farmer. 
There is minimal updated information on cocoa price disseminated to smallholder farmers by 
their associations; only 28percent of the newly enrolled beneficiaries are receiving cocoa 
market information from farmer associations while 15percent get market information from 
their neighbors that have sold cocoa to traders. Twenty-six percent of the cocoa price 
information is determined by cocoa traders, which makes smallholder farmers vulnerable to 
price-abuse. These figures are lower than 30percent of continuing beneficiaries that reported in 
LIFE II final evaluation that they received cocoa price information from their farmer association; 
the weighted average for both new and continue beneficiaries for this indicator is 29percent. 
Cocoa price is not disseminated through standard channels to individual farmers such as mobile 
phone or local radio; market information is transmitted through a rudimentary method –
distributing printouts of cocoa price – and is not covering larger population of farmers. 
The households interviewed also included an assessment on how women are involved in the 
cocoa sector. The result shows that women are rarely involved in cocoa production activities. 
Women are mostly participating in pod breaking and drying. An interview with female farmers 
revealed that women solely undertake only 6percent of the activities on their cocoa farms; 
54percent is jointly conducted with the husbands and 40percent is done by their husbands on 
their behalf. Of the total farms managed by women, 49percent are solely owned by them; 
45percent are jointly owned with their husband while 6percent of the farms that is managed by 
women belong to their husbands. Women make decision on 18percent of the income and 
expenditure; 9percent of the decisions are made by their husband while 65percent are jointly 
made. The proportion of women to men in the producer groups is 3.1 and female participation 
is low. 
 
Based on the above-mentioned findings, the following table summarizes the key program 
indicators, the baseline results, the figures represented by the LOA targets specified in planning 
documents, and indications regarding how realistic these targets may be in light of the baseline 
findings. 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
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Table 1 Summary of LIFE III Indicators and Baseline Findings 
Activity Indicator Baseline
A. Training: Improved Farm 
Management
Kilograms of cocoa harvested per hectare 180kg
Number of farmers receiving training 
under LIFE III 
0
Number of hectares subject to improved
cocoa husbandry techniques
2.522 ha
Number of individuals trained in income 
diversification activities (i.e. community 
vegetable gardens, livestock 
management)
5,376
Number of cocoa farmers applying 
improved farm management techniques
31%
(3,162)
Number of farmers receiving training in 
Farming as a Business principles
5,376
B. Capacity Building: 
Producer 
Groups/Cooperatives
Number of CDA field staff completing 
capacity-building training in farmer 
organization outreach, assessment and 
support
0
Number of farmers implementing pilot 
grants to groups for artisanal processing 
capacity to produce byproducts from 
subgrade cocoa.
15%
(420)
Number of members of project￾sponsored farmer associations 
established under the three phases of 
LIFE
4,782
C. Financial Services: 
Facilitate Agricultural 
Lending
Cocoa farmers accessing financial services
32%
(3,266)
Total value of loans disbursed to farmer 
associations by financial institutions (USD)
351,702
Value-chain financing arrangements for 
the sale of cocoa in a given season (not 
cumulative)
12
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
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Activity Indicator Baseline
Number of Village Savings and Loans 
Clubs certified as credit unions
0
D. Inputs: Develop 
Agrodealers
Local businesses or associations providing 
new agricultural packages
4
New or improved kinds of planting 
material and cocoa-specific fertilizer, 
pesticides or fungicides available to 
farmers
3
Number of public-private partnerships 
formed as a result of USDA assistance
5
Cocoa seedling distributed or sold to 
farmers as a result of the project 
activities.
825,000
Cocoa nurseries established that provide 
improved, reasonably priced planting 
material available to smallholder farmers
3
E. Market Access: Improved 
Market Information
Number of cocoa farmer associations that 
regularly provide updated market 
information to their members
1
Number of farmers who are able to 
access current prices for cocoa
25%
(2,592)
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
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1. Introduction 
This report summarizes the findings from the baseline survey conducted by the LIFE program 
staff. The primary objective of the baseline survey was to assess the pre-project conditions of 
the beneficiary population. The results from the survey will be used to assess the prevailing 
situation for cocoa farmers in the project counties. The survey also captures current qualitative 
and quantitative data against performance indicators. The reported data will be a benchmark 
for comparison during the midterm and final evaluations and will be used to measure the LIFE 
III progress and impact. A total of 372 households were interviewed about farm productivity, 
profitability, quality and marketing. The respondents were sampled from all six project 
implementing counties. The survey also included Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and Key 
Informant Interviews (KII) with cooperatives, cocoa exporters, agro-dealers and the Cooperative 
Development Agency (CDA). Those FGDs and KIIs provided narrative detail on the household 
quantitative data. The information will also be used to shape LIFE III activity design. 
The grant agreement between USDA and ACDI/VOCA was signed in September 2013. Due to 
challenges monetizing the donated commodity, the project went into hibernation while a 
monetization strategy was devised and approved. Once the monetization plan was approved 
and a buyer for the commodity was identified, the LIFE III project prepared for the baseline 
survey, the completion of which aligns with the March 2015 receipt of proceeds and the start of 
direct project activity. 
The baseline protocol was refined from the originally proposed survey approach due to the 
Ebola outbreak in West Africa. To comply with restrictions imposed by the government of 
Liberia and to keep project staff and the beneficiaries safe, the LIFE III baseline was conducted 
internally by the LIFE III M&E Specialist. The survey was supported remotely by the regional 
M&E Specialist based in Ghana and the ACDI/VOCA headquarters staff in Washington, DC. 
2. Baseline Survey Methodology 
2.1.Aim and Objectives 
The aim of this baseline survey is to track pre-intervention data against the project’s 
performance indicators. The data will then be used as a yardstick for evaluation throughout 
project implementation. The baseline data will be compared to actual performance in order to 
measure progress and impact. In accordance with the approved Monitoring & Evaluation Plan, 
all project evaluations will be designed using similar methodology so that the results of the 
studies will be comparable. Specifically, the expected objectives of this baseline assessment 
were to: 
1. To establish or validate the indicator targets described in the Indicator Performance 
Tracking Table (IPTT). 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
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2. Collect pre-intervention data on the project’s performance indicator as outlined in the 
results framework, thus establishing the foundation of the program monitoring and 
evaluation framework. 
3. Document basic socioeconomic data pertaining to smallholder cocoa farmers, including 
income levels, farmer household size, gender roles, etc. 
4. Determine the market development conditions and constraints in the cocoa value chain in 
Liberia so as to properly design the project’s intervention. 
5. Record the numbers and locations of businesses providing new agricultural packages 
including improved kinds of planting material and cocoa-specific fertilizer, pesticides or 
fungicides available to farmers. 
2.2.Evaluation Methodologies 
2.2.1. Team Composition 
The baseline evaluation was conducted by LIFE III program staff across the six project counties. 
Twenty field officers served as enumerator for the survey. The staff worked within the counties 
they are assigned to. They conducted interviews with survey participants and measured cocoa 
farms of those respondents using GPS devices. 
The entire exercise was coordinated and guided by the project M&E Specialist with technical 
support from ACDI/VOCA’s Regional M&E Manager based in Ghana. The data collection was 
supervised by the M&E Specialist in three of the six counties – Grand Gedeh, River Gee and 
Nimba, with assistance from the field coordinator for that region – while the IT Officer and a 
supporting field coordinator supervised data collection in the remaining three counties – Bong, 
Lofa and Gbarpolu Counties. 
2.2.2. Sampling Methodologies 
A sample size of 372 household was drawn from the list of 2,803 smallholder cocoa farmers 
identified to be trained at LIFE III farmer field schools. This sample size was determined through 
random sampling method using the RAOSoft sample size calculator with confidence level of 
95percent, margin of error 5percent and a 10percent provision for non-respondents. 
The respondents were drawn from across the six project, proportionate to the percentage of 
the total targeted population located in each of the counties. To further stratify, the percentage 
of males and females in the targeted populations was used to determine the gender 
representation as shown in the matrix below: 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
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Table 2 Population distribution by county 
County
Total FFS 
beneficiary per 
county
Percentage of the 
total population 
per county
Number of selected 
respondents per county 
disaggregated by sex
Provision for non￾respondent
M F Total
Grand Gedeh 566 20% 58 16 75 8
River Gee 346 12% 37 9 46 5
Gbarpolu 239 9% 18 14 32 3
Lofa 661 24% 65 23 88 9
Bong 497 18% 46 20 66 7
Nimba 494 18% 54 12 66 7
Total 2803 100% 278 94 372 39
A two-day enumerator training was held on November 13th and 14th, 2014 to discuss the tips 
of conducting interview, duties of an enumerator, characteristics of a good enumerator. The 
training was also used to align on the meaning of each question on the household 
questionnaire and to demonstrate and practice area calculation using the GPS devices. The 
training session included a field test of the questionnaire. As a result of the enumerators’ field 
experience the instrument was revised to ensure accurate and consistent information. 
2.2.3. Data Collection Methodology 
A 10 page structured questionnaire was administered to randomly selected smallholder cocoa 
farmers enrolled in the LIFE III program from each of the six project counties. The questionnaire 
had closed-ended questions with options that collected data elements to provide quantitative 
measure for the project’s performance indicators. The questionnaire had five sections including 
household economic security, cocoa farming and marketing, cocoa farm measurement and 
observation of maintenance practices on the cocoa farm. The sections and questions were 
designed based on ACDI/VOCA’s best practices for baseline data collection and were tailored to 
meet the needs of the project indicators and the country and commodity context. The 
enumerators used GPS device to measure the size of each respondent’s cocoa farm. Farm size 
was used to accurately calculate cocoa production per hectare. 
In addition to the household interviews, the field supervisors conducted FGDs with farmer 
cooperatives. The purpose of these discussions was to document qualitative explanations to the 
statistical findings from the household interviews. 
Other discussions were held with several partners within the cocoa value chain including, the 
Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI), the Liberia Produce Marketing Corporation (LPMC), 
Liberia Agricultural and Asset Development Cooperative (LAADCO), CDA, Unity Credit Union 
Bank, WIENCO and National Apex of Village Savings and Loan Clubs (NAPEX). 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
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Furthermore, data collected on the continuing beneficiaries in the LIFE II final evaluation was 
also used alongside the data collected from the newly enrolled beneficiaries to make the 
analysis of the baseline values. 
2.2.4. Data entry and analysis 
A consultancy group, Liberia Monitoring and Evaluation Enterprise, was hired to create a 
database and conduct the double entry of the 372 household questionnaires. The 
questionnaires were numerically marked to facilitate counter-verification between the 
hardcopy and softcopy data. The consultant created a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with 
validation rules to avoid wrong entries and also added drop-down list to ease data entry into 
the spreadsheet. The data for each indicator was analysed using the formula provided by Food 
for Progress and McGovern Dole Indicator and definition handbook. The baseline values were 
analysed from data collected on newly enrolled beneficiaries into the LIFE III program and also 
data collected on old beneficiaries during the LIFE II final evaluation. The results from both 
surveys were merged by calculating the weighted means for indicators. The findings from those 
analyses were used to generate baseline value for each of the LIFE III performance indicators. 
2.2.5. Discussions of Limitations 
Some issues that underlie the findings from the baseline survey are summarized in this session. 
These are concerns that could possibly distort the results: 
• The majority of the respondents did not have invoices/receipts to authenticate the self￾reported data on the quantity of cocoa sold. The self-reported data could be overstated or 
understated by the farmer, which could lead to misrepresentation of the actual baseline 
value for income generated and farm production. Moreover, some farmers are selling more 
than they can harvest from their own farm. They gathered cocoa from other, smaller 
farmers so the production data of those farmers could mistakenly include production of 
other farmers. 
• Adoption of improved husbandry techniques was determined by the enumerator’s 
observation and judgment; therefore, wrong judgment on the application of improved 
techniques could lead to distortion in the data. 
• Data collection on the availability of new or improved planting material was limited to only 
four known agro-dealers. There could be other local businesses providing new agricultural 
packages that are not mentioned in this report. 
• Secondary data were used to provide context to some of the survey findings and to 
compare situations in some instances. The quality of those data is not guaranteed. 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
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Figure 1 Age Distribution of Survey Population
3. Survey Findings 
3.1.Survey Population 
The survey collected data from 372 households1 out of the total population of 2,803 households 
to be enrolled into the LIFE program for the first time. There are more male (77percent) than 
female (23percent) in the surveyed population. The selected households for the survey were 
smallholder cocoa producers from six counties. The household had an average land area of 1ha 
under production 
Table 3 Characteristics of population by gender 
Male Female
Proportion of population 77 23
Head of household 93.4 6.6
Level of education
No education 31.2 54.1
Primary Education 28.6 32.3
Secondary Education 35.7 12.7
Tertiary Education 4.5 0.0
On the average, there are 10 people living in a household with 40percent children and 
40percent female. Education levels among the surveyed population are very low. Of the total 
sampled population, 37percent have never attended school; 30percent had primary education 
and 30percent attained secondary education while 3percent tertiary education. 76percent of 
the targeted beneficiaries are in the median age group (30 – 65 years); only 8percent are above 
the age of 65 while 16percent are below the age of 30. 
 
1
 Defined as the people living in the same house and eating together 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
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3.1.1. Description of household head 
Of the respondents surveyed, 61percent are head of household and cocoa farmers; 91percent 
male household head and 9percent female household head. The average age of head of 
household is 47 years. Of the male farm owners interviewed, 93percent were married and 
7percent single or separated. Female household heads are mostly widow that have not been 
remarried, their farm ownership is from inheritance; most women are not involved in planting 
cocoa. 
3.1.2. Household economic security 
Of the households surveyed 77percent are harvesting from established cocoa farms; those 
households are selling cocoa and generating revenue. The remaining 23percent of households 
surveyed have newly established farms that have not started to produce so there is no cocoa 
revenue generated by those households. The majority, 83percent, of the surveyed household 
acquired the farmland by traditional conferment with no legal document to authenticate the 
ownership. Only 7percent have some sort of legal documents (title deed or tribal certificate 
from the local government). 
3.1.3. Household labor distribution 
Cocoa production in most households is a predominantly male activity. On the average, women 
are involved in only 6percent of cocoa activity; however, they are mostly consulted by their 
husband on 54percent of the production activities. The economic aspect of the production is 
handled by men. 
Table 4 Household labor distribution 
Category Cocoa Production Activities
Buying 
inputs
Farm 
maintenance
Harvest Pod breaking Fermenting Drying Storage Sales
Male (Self) 22% 37% 20% 13% 37% 24% 30% 34%
Female(Self) 4% 4% 4% 3% 7% 6% 9% 8%
Jointly 18% 37% 63% 80% 44% 56% 44% 38%
Hired labor 1% 11% 2% 3% 1% 1% 1% 1%
In addition, children up to the age of 18 years contribute to cocoa activities, mostly with 
harvesting, pod breaking and drying. 
3.2.Training: Farm Management 
LIFE III intends to increase agricultural productivity by providing trainings on improved cocoa husbandry 
techniques and farm management practices, along with technical assistances, to smallholder cocoa 
farmers through FFS. The trained farmers are expected to apply the recommended practices on their 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
15
respective farms that will lead to increases in their cocoa yield, thus increasing income from cocoa sales. 
In this baseline survey, the household questionnaire collected data against various benchmarks of this 
strategic objective to ascertain the pre-intervention status. The findings are explained within the sub￾topics that follow. 
3.2.1. Training on improved agricultural techniques and technologies 
The LIFE III project will build upon previous training interventions carried out under the earlier phases of 
the LIFE program and then expand to other cocoa farmers. In this effort, the project identified 2,803 
new cocoa farmers to be trained at 84 FFS. The 10 month training will provide farmers with knowledge 
that will help to increase productivity and cocoa quality. Farmers are expected to adopt these concepts 
to rejuvenate their old cocoa trees where necessary. In preparation for the establishment of the FFS, 55 
facilitators were trained to conduct training sessions in the 84 prospective FFS. 
3.2.2. Application of approved agricultural techniques and technologies 
Farmers who participate in the LIFE III trainings are expected to adopt and apply new agricultural 
techniques that will help them improve upon their farming performance and increase farm-level 
productivity and income. In order to understand whether farmers are applying improved farming 
techniques; the enumerators visited the respondents’ farms to observe which of the project￾recommended techniques are currently being applied. 
Observation of the farms of newly enrolled beneficiaries to the LIFE program shows that only 20percent 
of the surveyed population are applying at least 4 of 6 improved cocoa husbandry techniques; the 
variation among men and women in the surveyed population is the same with 20percent of both sexes 
applying 4 or more of the improved cocoa husbandry techniques. Similarly, 27percent of the continuing 
beneficiaries were also observed in the LIFE II final evaluation to have adopted the practices; the 
weighted average for both new and continuing users was calculated to be 24percent. Some of the 
reasons contributing to the low adoption of those practices among farmers are weak extension services 
to smallholder cocoa farmers, labor intensiveness of farm maintenance and high cost of cocoa specific 
fertilizers and other chemicals. Twenty-two percent of the surveyed population is rejuvenating old trees; 
24percent is managing disease pods while only 1percent of the respondents are applying fertilizer. The 
average land area managed under improved techniques is 0.9 hectares per individual farmer who have 
adopted the techniques. The rejuvenation of old cocoa trees is done by either pruning, coppicing or
pollarding. 
 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
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Figure 2 Applied cocoa husbandry techniques 
Table 5 New and rehabilitated farm characteristics 
Further analysis of the adoption of improved cocoa husbandry techniques made across counties shows 
that there are more farmers applying improved cocoa husbandry techniques in the older project 
counties enrolled since LIFE I (Nimba, Lofa and Bong) than those counties that were enrolled only in the 
second phase LIFE II. 
In the household interviews, respondents were asked whether their households planted new cocoa 
trees, and/or rehabilitated old trees. Enumerators observed that, of the total 125 farmers who did some 
rehabilitation on their old cocoa trees, 74percent percent of them are from the old project counties 
while only 26percent are in newer participating counties. In terms of establishing new cocoa farms, 
59percent of respondents in the old counties planted new trees while 41percent did so from the new 
counties. 
Most smallholder cocoa farmers in the three newer counties have long abandon their farms and as the 
result, the cocoa farms reverted to bush. Among the many reason given by farmers for why they 
abandon their farms, the most common response was low price and very low yield which discouraged 
them from continuing with cocoa production. 
The major problem farmers are experiencing on their cocoa farm is disease management. 74percent of 
the respondents reported that black pod disease is causing massive loss of cocoa pods; other factors 
contribute very insignificantly as compare to the damage cause by black pod disease. Farmers are using 
labor-intensive methods to reduce the prevalence of black pod disease. 
Establishment of new farms Rehabilitation of old farms
Number of hectares 157 125
Percent (percent) of 
sample
42percent 33percent
Average area (hectare) 0.9 1.0
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
17
3.2.3. Farm level Productivity 
Farm area measurement showed that smallholder farmers are cultivating an average land area of one 
hectare. To determine farm-level productivity, the survey collected data used to calculate the volume of 
cocoa harvested per hectare. The analysis of the harvest information collected resulted in production 
data of 180kg/hectare. The average revenue earned by individual farmers is $200. Farmers are investing 
about $40 on agricultural inputs every farming season. 
In addition, the survey assessed some other factors that reduce farmers’ cocoa income. One important 
factor was improper post-harvest handling which reduces the sales value of cocoa by 5percent. Cocoa 
beans were stored in poor conditions; 71percent of respondents keep their cocoa in their house before 
selling. As the result, those beans had very high moisture content which degrades the quality and sales 
price of cocoa. 
3.2.4. Application of improved farm management practices 
Farm management is a learned set of skills that allows farmers to make informed decisions and to 
implement changes that will move farm operations toward the farmers’ goals. It also requires season or 
annual planning for the use of resources and day to day management of activities and information to 
increase profit. 
 
The LIFE project proposed to strengthen these skills by introducing the concept of Farming as a Business 
(FaaB) at the FFS. This methodology will teach farmers how to keep records on investments, production 
and sales; how to plan and budget their farming activities; and how to make bulk sales with other cocoa 
farmers. The application of these improved farm management practices will enable farmers to make 
informed decision on their farming activities. However, the results from the baseline survey show low 
applications of these practices; 34percent of beneficiaries newly enrolled in LIFE III that were 
interviewed in this baseline survey are applying any two of the recommended practices, which is higher 
than the 27percent of continuing beneficiaries that were observed during LIFEII final evaluation to be 
applying these recommended farm management practices with the weighted average of 31percent for 
both old and continue beneficiaries. The application of these practices varies between men and that 
women; 35percent of men are applying these practices while only 22percent of women are doings. 
Nineteen percent of the newly enrolled beneficiaries interviewed in this baseline do not keep records or 
prepare a financial plan (budget); 59percent of them are keeping in mind the plan for farming activity 
but do not write them, while 13percent participate in bulk sale with other cocoa farmers. These results 
are not surprising because 66percent of the respondents in the baseline survey either did not attend 
school or only attained primary level education. The project’s standard to determine adoption of the 
farm management practices is for farmers to adopt at least two of the practices. 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
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Figure 3 Percentage of farmers practicing improved farm management 
3.3. Producer Organization Capacity Building 
The LIFE III project takes two approaches to strengthening the capacity of producer groups in the six 
project counties – 1) providing trainings to farmer organizations on good governance, leadership, 
effective communication and negotiating skills; and 2) strengthen the capacity of the CDA to be able to 
efficiently and effectively oversee farmer associations and cooperatives across the six counties. Under 
his objective, the baseline survey evaluated the following areas. 
3.3.1. Structure and function of the CDA 
The CDA has fourteen of its 42 staff members assigned in the department of cooperative development 
services. The staff have not had any special training on cooperative development other than short-term 
workshop provided by SOCODEVI. 
In addition, there is limited operational support given to field operations which impede routine 
supervision for cooperative and other producer groups. Presently, producer organizations revive a visit 
twice per year. The limited oversight and support has resulted in the proliferation of weak cooperatives. 
3.3.2. Producer group membership 
There are thirty-one producer groups – 23 farmer associations and 8 cooperatives – with current 
smallholder cocoa farmer membership totaling 4,782 (3,631 men; 1,151 women). Of those members, 
1,845 are shareholders and 2,937 non-shareholding members. Shareholding guarantees the 
sustainability of producer groups and strengthens the capability of the group to repay pre-finance loan. 
Most groups that have fewer shareholders; overall, only 39percent of the general membership is made 
up of shareholders. 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
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Figure 4 Percentage of shareholders membership per producer group by county 
Focus group discussions revealed that there is always low attendance at the regular association 
meetings; at most 8 members attend, including the leadership. Farmer associations perform poorly 
because of members’ non-compliance with the bylaws and constitution and poor management from 
leadership. It is evident from the household interviews that one negative effect of poorly managed 
producer groups is that only 13percent of farmers are continuously bulking cocoa with the farmer 
associations. 
3.3.3. Leadership structure and governance 
The governance of a producer group is made up of two distinct entities – the board of directors, elected 
by the members, and a professional business management team hired by the board. Both have the 
same overall objective but each has separate and divisible functions. The elected board is the governing 
body of the cooperative. It has certain legal responsibilities to the members and others like financiers, 
and holders of marketing, supply, or service contracts, while the hired management team reports to the 
board and are responsible for the cooperative’s day-to-day operations. 
Contrary to this democratic governance system, FGDs revealed that 80percent of the leadership is not 
hosting general assembly meetings to report the financial and operation status to the members. This 
lack of accountability is causing rapid decline in the membership; thus impeding the warehouse receipt 
program and the payment of membership dues. 
Furthermore, none of the producer groups have been audited as stated in their bylaws and 
constitutions. Most members see the groups as an institution for only the leadership. In several FGDs, 
farmers consistently said that the producer groups are only benefitting the management team and not 
the general membership of the groups. 
3.3.4. Financial management of producer groups 
The financial management system of organizations is very poor. The baseline survey assessed key areas 
of financial management including: banking, spending decisions, budgeting and payment procedures. 
Although 98percent of the farmer groups have bank accounts, transparency remains a serious 
weakness. None of the producer groups have transaction records. The organizations’ money is spent by 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
20
the management team without requiring membership approval. Only one of the 30 producer groups has 
documents that can be audited. 
3.3.5. Cocoa bulking capacity of producer organization 
Presently, LIFE project participating producer groups are contributing 4percent of the total cocoa export 
from Liberia. There has been significant decrease in the trend of cocoa bulking by the groups; only 
13percent of the surveyed household said that they bulked their cocoa beans in the groups’ warehouse 
despite being members of the group. As discussed earlier, this is largely cause by poor management in 
the various producer groups. 
Figure 5 MT of Liberian cocoa exports vs. association sales 
Producer groups are competing with traders for farmers’ cocoa; 73percent of farmers are now selling 
their cocoa to agents rather than their respective farmer groups. This diversion is because of the 
inability of producer groups to secure the cocoa of their registered members. The warehouse receipt 
programs have been undermined by these agents who are offering higher prices than the cooperative. 
In addition to marketing cocoa beans, 15percent of survey participants are processing sub-grade cocoa 
into byproducts such as soap; this practice is higher among the men, at 15percent, than women with 
only 11percent processing cocoa byproducts. 
3.4.Financial Services: Facilitate Financial Lending 
A critical point in the cocoa value chain is farmers’ access to agricultural lending. This underpins the 
efforts to build vibrant producer groups that are able to conduct variety of business activities with their 
members. 
The LIFE project engages this objective with two-dimensional approaches: establishing Village Saving 
and Loan Clubs and facilitating value-chain financing, including pre-financing partnerships between 
associations and buyers, and input-credit mechanisms with agro-dealers. The baseline findings on these 
approaches are summarized below. 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
21
3.4.1. Village Savings and Loan Clubs 
Presently, there are thirty seven Village Savings and Loan Clubs (VSLC) established in the project 
targeted communities with total membership of 1,360 ( 583 men, 777 women) and a total loan portfolio 
of about $83,000. The groups are using a rotational loan scheme primarily among its members with an 
average interest rate of 20percent. An estimate of 4,080 smallholder farmers are benefiting from those 
VSLCs. Each registered members can recommend up to three other smallholder farmers for a loan. 
None of the VSLCs are certified as credit union by the CDA and therefore cannot benefit from larger 
loans from the Central Bank of Liberia. Currently, the groups have been linked with the National Apex of 
Village Savings and Loan Clubs (NAPEX) and Liberia National Credit Union to strength their capacity for 
CDA’s certification. The VSLCs have been mobilized to open an account with the Unity Saving Credit 
Union Bank – a micro-lead revitalization program financed by MasterCard Foundation with support from 
the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) implementing by the World Council of Credit 
Unions (WOCCU). These linkages will bolster the project’s effort to design appropriate financial products 
and collateral mechanisms for smallholder farmers. 
3.4.2. Pre-finance loans from exporters to cooperatives 
Value-chain pre-financing arrangements are one of the effective ways to get smallholder farmers access 
to credit. These arrangements provide producer groups with capital to finance advance purchases from 
their members; helping farmers with funds to buy agricultural inputs and cover domestic expenses while 
awaiting the harvest. The credited amount is repaid in cocoa – the producer group deducts the credited 
amount from the creditors’ total cocoa sale value. The cocoa beans are shipped to the financier to pay 
off the loan. 
The baseline survey revealed that twelve such arrangements are formalized in a signed MOU between 
producer groups and cocoa traders. The total monetary value disbursed as the result of those 
arrangements is $351,7022
, benefiting about 2,297 (1,838men, 459women) cocoa farmers from 12 
producer groups. Nevertheless, in an interview with the financier, they disclosed that there is a hurdle to 
the continuation of these arrangements with four of the cooperatives because of the poor management 
of the loan and non-compliance of those cooperatives. The repayment rates for those groups remain 
low. 
 
2
 Cash loan disbursed by LAADCO 2013/2014 season 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
22
Figure 6 Loan repayment of producer groups 
Besides seasonal cash loans, exporters also provide long-term investment loans through cocoa farm 
rehabilitation and the provision of improved cocoa seedlings. For this loan scheme, four cooperatives 
received about 156,220 improved cocoa seedlings and the sum of $37,200 for partial rehabilitation of 
about 300 farms covering 3,100 acres at the rate of $12 per acre. Farmers are also repaying this loan in 
cocoa. To-date, only 46 farmers have repaid. 
3.5.Develop Agrodealers 
The Liberia National Cocoa Strategy identifies technology transfer initiatives is an important step to 
offset the technology gap that continues to restrict the Liberian cocoa sector. Limited spread of 
technology has resulted in reduced processing capabilities and low production yields. LIFE III plans to 
contribute sustainable agronomic solutions to those challenges with two approaches – 1) availability of 
improved cocoa inputs to farmers; and 2) Partnership with private sector agro-dealers. 
3.5.1. Availability of improved cocoa inputs to farmers 
Through interviews with three commercial nursery providers the LIFE III project confirmed that 825,000 
cocoa seedlings were made available to smallholder cocoa farmers during last cocoa season as a result 
of the sustainability measures built into the grants issued during LIFE II. The agro-dealers, however, 
registered concern that smallholder cocoa farmers are not buying the cocoa seedling despite the low 
price. 
This information was confirmed from the household data in which 47percent of the farmers said that 
they could not buy improved seedling because of the lack of land space for planting while another 
32percent responded that their old farms needed rehabilitation so they could not afford to buy new 
seedlings. The survey gathered that 42percent of the farmers planted improved varieties of cocoa 
seedlings three to five years ago; 55percent of the new trees planted were sourced from traditional 
varieties of seeds planted by other farmers, while 29percent were improved varieties from commercial 
nursery and 17percent donated by INGOs. 
Further interviews and document review with agro-dealers revealed that there are currently seven 
varieties of improved cocoa seeds available to smallholder farmers; however, another 24 varieties of 
cocoa bud wood were brought to Liberia’s Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI) from the 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
23
International Cocoa Quarantine Center, Reading University - a leading cocoa research institution and the 
only temperate zone quarantine station in the world. 
The team also had an interview with WIENCO, an agricultural company that specializes in the 
importation and distribution of high quality agro-inputs. The interview revealed that three kinds of 
improved cocoa specific fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides are available to farmers in three of the six 
project counties (Nimba, Bong and Lofa Counties) with several outlets for distribution to farmers in 
those counties. 
Table 6 Improved inputs available to farmers 
Insecticides Herbicides Fungicides Fumigants Supplement Seed treatment
Confidor 200SL Lumax 537.5 Ridomil gold plus 66 Phostoxin Cropmax Apron star 42WS
Karate 5EC Touchdown 360SL Nordox super 75WG
3.5.2. Partnership between private agrodealers and farmer groups 
Five of the producer groups in the project targeted communities signed an agreement with two 
different agro-dealers (WIENCO and CWAP) to supply improved agriculture inputs. As a result of these 
agreements, three farmer groups (Quardu Masine, Gbondi Bengoma and Ngeetomba) received three 
different kinds of cocoa specific chemicals from WEINCO; 225 shareholders (171 men, 54 women) in 
those groups benefited. The Center for Woman Agriculture Program (CWAP) provided 38,000 improved 
seedlings valued at $19,000 to another two cooperatives in Nimba County (Tarpeleseh and Kwakerseh). 
Moreover, there is an established collaboration among CARI, the University of Reading, and two other 
regional research institutes in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. These collaborations will result in improved 
seedling varieties available in Liberia and, when strengthened, the collaboration will also provide for 
increased capability of local research institutes and suppliers to provide high-quality seedlings. 
 
3.6.Market Access: Improved Market Information 
Presently, the channel use by the LIFE program to disseminate cocoa price information to smallholder 
farmers is rudimentary – printing and distributing hardcopies to farmers – this way of broadcasting 
makes it very difficult to cover larger farmer population. Access to information in rural Liberia is 
challenging, as shown in the table below. 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
24
Figure 8 Source of cocoa price and market information
94%
62%
44%
91%
22% 22%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Radio Television Newspaper
Urban and rural market information source
Among farmers who accessed market information within the past week
Urban Rural
Figure 7 Media sources of market information 
Through the baseline survey, smallholder farmers were asked about the source of information that they 
used to gain cocoa price and market information. Of the surveyed population, 15percent responded that 
they received information through their neighbors; 28percent received information through farmers 
groups while 26percent gets the price provided by the traders. 
Lack of trade information subjects smallholder farmers to price abuse by traders in communities with 
little market competition. 
3.7.Women’s Empowerment in Cocoa Production 
Gender balance in cash crop production is an essential approach in bridging the gap between gender 
roles in rural households. However, women’s involvement in cocoa farming is very low as compare to 
men. An interview with female farmers shows that women in the household undertake 6percent of the 
activities on cocoa farms, mostly related to post-harvest activities. They are, however, consulted on 
54percent of household decisions related to cocoa production while their husbands conduct 40percent 
of the activities. In terms of ownership, women sole proprietorship of cocoa farms accounts for 
49percent of farms held by women, while 45percent is jointly owned with their husbands and 6percent 
of the farms managed by women belong to their husbands. Women have unilateral control over 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
25
18percent of the decisions made on their income and expenditures; 9percent is decided by their 
husbands while 65percent of the decisions are made jointly and 8percent are made by their children on 
their behalf. Producer group memberships consists of only 24percent women and their participation is 
generally overshadowed by men during group meetings. Women in cocoa production do not have 
sufficient time for non-productive activities as compare to the men; women who are sole-owners of 
cocoa farms are obliged to manage their time between their farming activities and their domestic tasks. 
Figure 9 Responsibilities by gender on women-owned farms 
4. Conclusions and Recommendations 
4.1.Conclusions 
This report presented analytical findings on data collected through the LIFE III baseline survey on 
household socio-economic status, cocoa productivity, financial services to producer groups, and 
availability of agricultural inputs. Specifically, the report provided pre-intervention values for indicators 
defined in the project’s PMP with contextual information. The results of the survey will be used to shape 
project interventions and measure progress toward achieving the LIFE III objective. 
The survey finds that the average volume of cocoa production per hectare among the project’s targeted 
beneficiaries is 180kg/ha, which is far lower than 300-400 kg/ha that is achieved in other cocoa 
producing countries in the region. The major constraint identified for the low cocoa production among 
the surveyed population is the old age of trees. Fifty-six percent of the respondents have cocoa trees 
planted more than 25 years ago with little or no significant replanting activities conducted during that 
time. As a consequence of long years of neglect, cocoa farms have degenerated into secondary forest. 
Moreover, farming techniques used by those cocoa farmers are basic and unsophisticated, resulting in 
low productivity yields. Farmers have an overall lack of understanding of, and expertise with, sustainable 
land management techniques and best practices such as Global Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). The 
project’s intention to train smallholder cocoa farmers, coupled with rehabilitation activities, will address 
the major constraints that the baseline survey identified and will contribute to increased yield. 
Implementing the concept of farm management requires significant use of managerial skills to maximize 
farm profits. These practices include decision making functions to evaluate and choose between 
alternative strategies. The project verifies adoption of these practices by the farmer’s ability to set 
production goals; to negotiate market price; and to keep basic records, which include but are not limited 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
26
to financial records and operation records. The baseline concluded that only 34percent of farmers have 
attempted to minimally apply at least two of the recommended practices. 
Improper post-harvest handling is a contributing factor to farmers’ low cocoa yields. The quality of 
cocoa beans diminishes due the lack of secondary infrastructure like warehouses, sorting yards and 
covered solar dryers. In addition, processing practices – fermentation and drying – are not conducted 
properly, degrading the quality of the cocoa beans. Processing methods that are being applied are very 
basic, consisting mainly of bamboo mats to dry cocoa. 
There are farmer groups present in all of the project counties but with the groups lack strong leadership 
structures. The weak governance and financial management practices have resulted in reduced 
membership and business potency. Consequently, exporters have inadequate trust in the groups which 
undermines the groups’ access to financial services. The warehouse receipt program that allows the 
groups to bulk and sell cocoa on behalf of their members has diminished due to the untrustworthiness 
of the management teams. 
There are good opportunity for value chain financing arrangements between exporters and producer 
groups. Due to the groups’ limited knowledge of loan management, however the result has been a 
liability for the groups with very low repayment rate. This non-compliance has the propensity to 
discourage future arrangements. 
The criteria used by CDA to transform VSLCs into formal credit unions includes membership retention 
and increases in the club’s loan portfolio. None of the project targeted VSLCs have been transformed 
into credit unions by the CDA; therefore, they cannot benefit from the Central Bank rural loan scheme. 
Farmers’ knowledge on the importance of planting new and improve varieties of cocoa seedlings 
remains low due to weak extension services. Fifty-eight percent of farmers continue to promulgate 
traditional varieties of seeds, not tested for their yield potential, quality and pest resistance. 
Consequently, despite the availability of improved varieties of cocoa seedlings at the commercial 
nurseries, farms continue to underperform. 
Current channels for disseminating cocoa price and market information are not benefiting the 
population of farmers at large and, therefore, farmers continue to be subjected to price-abuse by cocoa 
traders who have monopoly over the cocoa price. Printouts of reference price posted at the 
associations’ warehouse is not benefiting communities that are far away from the groups’ headquarters. 
However, 91percent of the farmers have access to local radio. 
Women undertake only 6percent of cocoa production activities; they constitute 24percent of the 
membership of producer groups and they are charged with 50percent of the workload between 
domestic tasks and farming activities. 
4.2.Recommendations 
Upon analyses of the baseline findings and contextual information provided in this report, the 
assessment team is of the candid opinion that if the below recommendations are considered, some of 
the issues identified can be resolved. 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
27
 For production to increase, it is essential to conduct farm rehabilitation scheme to rejuvenate 
old cocoa trees that have decline in fertility. The rehabilitation should cover the 56percent of 
farmers who planted more than 25 years. The funds for establishing cocoa nursery should be 
redirected to undertaking this rehabilitation program. It is unworthy to invest in establishing 
new cocoa nursery when the farmers remain unresponsive to buying cocoa seedlings from 
sustained commercial nursery established from grants provided by previous phases of the LIFE 
project. 
 To minimize post-harvest losses, it is important to make available secondary infrastructure for 
cocoa processing such as warehouses and solar dryers in the targeted communities. Farmers 
should be asked to provide local materials for this venture while the project provides technical 
guidance and other imported inputs. The involvement of the farmers will not only reduce the 
cost of the project but also serves as a sustainability measure. 
 To strengthen technical support from extension services – the project should provide specialized 
training to its field staff. The field officers have inadequate training on their assigned areas of
supervision. 
 To secure the continuation of value-chain financing arrangements, the project should establish 
and define a collaborative relationship with financiers providing pre-financing to the project 
sponsored producer groups. A focal person (Access to Credit Specialist) should be designated by 
the project to supervise the loan management. 
 As regard to strengthening the leadership capacity of producer groups, it is advisable that the 
project’s Farmer Business Organization Officers always liaise with their CDA counterpart to do a 
joint supervision visit. The team should develop an assessment checklist that evaluates key 
aspect of the organization in order to identify areas for improvement. 
 There is a potential opportunity for VSLCs to receive loan from the Central Bank through the 
Liberia National Credit Union. To guarantee this opportunity, the project should liaise with the 
CDA and the national credit union to strengthen these groups by providing trainings on loan 
management and internal auditing. The clubs stand to benefit the loan value of $200,000 USD 
which will directly increase the members’ access to capital. 
 Considering the low levels of education of the project’s targeted beneficiaries, it will be prudent 
to engage the management teams of producer groups to manage the business activities of their 
members. The management teams should negotiate marketing on behalf of their members, and 
also keep basic records such as area of production, quantity harvested and quantity sold. The 
goal of illiterate farmers adopting the project’s recommended farm management practices is 
unfeasible. 
 To disseminate cocoa price and market information to a larger population of the illiterate rural 
farmers, the project should consider having an agreement with local radio stations with wider 
coverage to regularly broadcast the reference price. Community radios serve as an important 
medium to disseminate information, as 91percent of rural farmers have access to radio. 
 To enhance field monitoring, data collection and validation, it is essential to employ at least two
field monitoring assistants that will collect routine data on field activities. The M&E Specialist is 
charged with the monitoring the six project counties. 
 Lastly, there is a need to define indicators exactly as it is mentioned in the Food for Progress 
Indicator handbook also to include some process/output indicators, per the table below. 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
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Table 7 Recommended revisions and proposed Indicators 
Objectives Indicators in the 
PMP
Recommended
revised indicator Rationale
Training: Improved 
Farm management 
practices
Number of farmers
who received 
agriculture extension 
service
To provide an 
opportunity for farmers 
to practically know how 
to apply improved cocoa 
husbandry techniques
Number of storage 
capacity installed
To track progress be 
made to reduce post￾harvest losses
Number of 
individuals 
trained in income 
diversification 
activities (i.e. 
community 
vegetable 
gardens, livestock 
management)
Number of individual 
who have received 
short-term agricultural 
sector productivity 
training as a result of 
USDA assistance
The proposed indicator is 
USDA’s standard 
indicator; so should be 
reported as define in 
FFPr indicator handbook
Capacity Building: 
Producer 
Groups/Cooperatives
Number of 
members of 
project-sponsored 
farmer 
associations 
established under 
the three phases 
of LIFE
Number of 
shareholders of 
project-sponsored 
farmer association 
established under the 
three phases of LIFE
Shareholding guarantees 
the sustainability of 
producer groups and not 
ordinary membership
Number of VSLC 
linked to Liberia 
National Credit Union
Linking the VSLC to the 
National Credit union 
qualifies them for bigger 
loan
Number of Joint 
organization 
development 
supervision visit with 
CDA
Enhance the supervision 
of producer group; thus 
facilitate improvement. 
Number of financial 
audit conducted for 
producer group
Strengthen financial 
management system of 
producer group
Financial service: 
Facilitate Agricultural 
Lending
Number of producer 
group that repay 
value-chain loan
To assess possible 
continuation of value￾chain arrangement
Inputs: Develop 
Agrodealers
Number of project 
sponsored farmers 
To know farmers’ 
responses to the 
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
29
that planted improved 
variety of cocoa 
seedlings
improved seedlings made 
available 
Market Access: 
Improved Market 
Information
Number of local radio 
broadcasting current 
cocoa price
Baseline Report Liberia: Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE) III 
 USDA Food for Progress, FY 2013 
30
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