A historic initiative to revive Liberia’s coffee sector is officially underway as the Liberia Agricultural Commodity Regulatory Authority (LACRA) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) expand a massive nursery project simultaneously across Lofa, Bong, and Nimba Counties.
Under the direct leadership of Director General Hon. Dan T. Saryee, LACRA in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA has successfully developed over 140,000 premium Coffee Liberia seedlings.
This robust, rare variety is indigenous to West Africa and is being strategically scaled up to position Liberia as a dominant competitor in the specialized global coffee trade.
During a recent town hall engagement in Lofa County, local farmers openly celebrated the initiative, marking it as a critical milestone for their communities. Beneficiaries expressed immense gratitude to the Unity Party administration led by His Excellency President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, pointing out that this intervention represents the first time since the end of the civil war that a government will be supplying coffee seedings to famers in Lofa.
Speaking to journalists during an assessment tour of the Lofa County nursery site, Hon. Dan T. Saryee expressed high satisfaction with the project’s trajectory, noting that the sheer volume of seedlings signals Liberia’s readiness to reclaim its spot on the global coffee stage.
“The availability of over 140,000 seedlings is LACRA’s way of saying: we are ready to revive the coffee sector,” Hon. Saryee stated. “When distributed, we expect all beneficiaries to fully utilize these unique opportunities. This is not just about farming; it is about growing the Liberian economy and directly improving the welfare of our farmers by ensuring they make more money from their sales.”
Hon. Saryee extended profound gratitude to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) for their vital role in the initiative. “IITA has been a very helpful partner in this project, and we cannot say anything here without thanking them for their unwavering support,” he emphasized.
The Director General also highly commended the dedicated staff of LACRA, praising the team members who worked instrumentally on the ground to ensure the nursery project transitioned from a vision into a successful reality.
The distribution of these 140,000 seedlings represents the first major phase of a long-term economic strategy to empower local farmers and boost national export revenue.
The multi-county distribution is scheduled to roll out in the coming months, providing rural farmers with the exact resources needed to increase production, build long-term financial security, and support the broader national agricultural agenda.
The Liberia Agricultural Commodity Regulatory Authority (LACRA) is the government entity tasked with regulating, promoting, and expanding agricultural commodities in Liberia, maximizing market value for traditional cash crops including coffee, cocoa, and oil palm.
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) that is helping LACRA to implement this project, is a leading research-for-development institution focused on addressing hunger, poverty, and natural resource degradation across Africa by delivering sustainable agricultural innovations.
