Seeds4Liberia: IITA boosts coffee revival in Liberia with massive seedling distribution

As part of ongoing efforts to revitalize Liberia’s coffee industry and strengthen agricultural diversification, IITA–CGIAR, through the Seeds4Liberia Project, has distributed more than 267,000 coffee seedlings to farmers across four counties—Bong, Lofa, Montserrado, and Nimba. This significant milestone is a key component of IITA–CGIAR’s broader agenda to empower farmers, improve seed systems, and drive economic growth through strategic crop value chains.

This distribution follows the earlier collection of coffee beans from selected farmers’ fields across five coffee-producing counties: Bong, Bomi, Nimba, Lofa, and Montserrado. The beans, representing three major species (arabica, liberica, and robusta), were collected for multiplication and further research, including DNA fingerprinting and coffee quality analysis to assess caffeine levels and aromatic profiles.

The seedling distribution exercise was conducted in close collaboration with key national stakeholders. These included the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), the Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI), the Farmers’ Union Network of Liberia (FUNL), the Seeds Development and Certification Agency (SDCA), and the European Union (EU) Delegation to Liberia, which funds the Seeds4Liberia Project as part of its flagship “From productivity to product” (P2P) initiative.

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