Lofa: Farmers defaulting on growing more locally consumed food crops

J. Mason Kollie

Voinjama City – A Rural Reporters News Network (RRNN) investigation has revealed that farmers in Lofa County are reneging on growing more locally consumed food crops, leading to heightened importation of such produce, especially pepper, from neighboring countries into that part of Liberia.

RRNN has reliably gathered that several farmers in Lofa are solely concentrated on harvesting Liberia’s staple, rice, and have entirely disregarded growing other locally grown consumables.

“We have the rich soil for pepper and other food crops that can be locally grown, but it will surprise you to note that every year, we have to buy dry pepper from Guinea and different areas,” Ma Yongor  Mawolo, a female farmer told RRNN in an interview recently.

Another farmer, Zayzay K. Zayzay told RRNN the importance of venturing more into locally grown crops, as opposed to importing them into the country.

“We need to change our system of agricultural production in Lofa,” Zayzay pleaded, adding; “We should not only produce rice and buy pepper and other food crops from Guinea.”

He admonished farmers in Lofa to also begin producing on a large scale, other locally grown edibles such as pepper, eddoes, cassava, and corn, among others.

Zayzay, popularly known as the “Farmer Friend” said in an interview.

Farming, especially subsistence farming, is the primary livelihood of majority of the people in Lofa County, but our investigation has unearthed that many farmers in the county are primarily focused on rice, coco, and coffee cultivation, totally disregarding the production of other locally grown food crops.