In every corner of the world, local communities are best positioned to brainstorm solutions. They also know best the barriers that they face. I am from Liberia, a country that is facing severe hunger and poverty, and I can see in my community that hunger has forced a lot of difficult decisions. USAID’s data shows that over 50 percent of Liberians are unable to access sufficient food on a daily basis. I have seen that farmers lack the resources and value chain connections to farm effectively and sustainably. As the world’s largest bilateral agency, USAID has the potential to support Liberians as they work to deal with this crisis. I have been working with local farmers in a process of cocreation to motivate them to continue working with what they have — supporting local farmers is the best way to continue having a sustainable farming system.

We know that agricultural issues are not unique to Liberia, yet the solutions we generate must be based on Liberian know-how. The Movement for Community-Led Development (MCLD) Liberia, a consortium of local organizations driven by and for Liberians, has a long-term vision to make an immediate impact on food security in Liberia. Community-led development is a holistic approach that recognizes the power, potential and promise of all people. The structure that we propose is the Centers for Farming Innovation.

Our model recognizes the barriers that Liberian farmers face and is built specifically to dismantle them.

In August 2021, MCLD Liberia organized a three-day participatory event as a pilot activity for the Farmer Networks. This knowledge-sharing event generated attention and excitement and proved that Liberian farmers are committed to breaking cycles that undermine their success. We hosted 50 local farmers from Upper Momtserrado and Margibi Counties. We secured 150 acres of land across three districts, but we have not been able to implement the program due to a lack of resources.

Context matters and our strength lies in our network of Liberian farmers. By bringing together farmers ripe with local knowledge, we would create a mutually reinforcing system. We will take a learning-from-within approach to disseminate the know-how that Liberian farmers already have.  We plan to develop Agripeneur Hubs in cocreated centers with county farmers in Montserrado and Margibi — these two counties are home to over half of Liberia’s population. They also struggle with extremely underdeveloped local food systems. We know that by strengthening the agricultural practices in these counties and building Liberia-specific solutions, we can increase nutritious food consumption. Given its processes and structure, USAID may not be able to directly fund farmers or even farmer cooperatives in individual provinces, but investing in a network that would channel funding to these community-led collectives could change the food security situation in Liberia.

What is next?

I believe that we all have one goal and one vision: to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. USAID’s focus on localization, especially the commitment to ensuring 50 percent of USAID programming will place local communities in the lead by 2030, will, I believe, go a long way in helping us achieve the SDGs. In our case, community-based organizations are working to end hunger through initiatives like MCLD Liberia’s Centers for Farming Innovation to address chronic food shortages and undernutrition. Communities are best placed to find solutions, and our agripeneur hubs in Montserrado and Margibi Counties provide a truly locally led approach to farming innovation.