SUAKOKO — For 70-year-old Joseph Dumoe, every farming season brings disappointment. A subsistence farmer in Suakoko District, Dumoe is among dozens of smallholder farmers in rural Bong County struggling with poor yields due to pest infestations, a lack of training, and limited access to modern farming tools.
"I try every year to improve my farm, but the insects keep embarrassing me," Dumoe said. "I don't have the knowledge or the materials to fight them."
Despite Liberia's fertile soil, many rural farmers like Dumoe say they're unable to fully tap its potential because they lack technical training in modern agriculture and access to basic support. As a result, harvests remain low, and many families cannot meet their basic needs.
Dumoe, who practices traditional group farming known locally as Kou, said his efforts to expand his farmland have largely failed. Without knowledge of soil testing or proper planting seasons, he often plants crops in soil unsuitable for the season, resulting in stunted or deformed harvests.
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"Neither the government nor NGOs have trained us. We farm by ourselves, but what we make can't even feed our families for three months," he said.
Pest infestation has been a major challenge, but Dumoe says he has no idea how to prevent it. Still, he remains hopeful, praising President Joseph Boakai's government for prioritizing agriculture under its "rescue" agenda.
"I want to move from subsistence farming to mechanized farming, but I need help from the government," Dumoe said. "If they give us tools and teach us how to grow rice properly, the price of rice on the market will drop."
His story mirrors that of Jones Kollie, another smallholder farmer from Gboimue Town in Suakoko District. Kollie began farming in 2015 and has since battled armyworm outbreaks and low-quality harvests due to the same lack of training and resources.
"For more than four years, I haven't earned anything from my farm," he said. "I don't know how to prepare the soil properly or plow it in the right way."
Farming is Kollie's sole means of supporting his family, but the income generated barely covers food and school fees for his children.
In a desperate attempt to improve crop production, Kollie has turned to shifting cultivation--a practice of clearing new forest land each season. But even that has failed to produce better results and has contributed to growing deforestation in the region.
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Experts say Liberia's longstanding food production crisis could be resolved through a research-based agriculture system focused on farmer education, pest control, and mechanization. But such progress depends heavily on political will and investment in the sector.
Without immediate government intervention and sustained support, farmers like Dumoe and Kollie fear their efforts to feed their families and contribute to national food security will remain in vain.
