Monrovia-Liberia Wednesday April 8, 2015 the Ministry of Commerce and Industry hosted a one day working session with stakeholders in the cocoa sector of Liberia.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministries of Agriculture, Finance, National Investment Commission and delegates of USAID and the World Bank, and provided a platform for discussions on the plan of action to deliver inclusive growth in the Cocoa sector.

At the opening of the meeting, Acting Commerce Minister Cyril A. Allen II welcomed the body and expressed that the key purpose of the gathering was to formulate rapid interventions which could jump-start productivity in the cocoa sector. “We already have a cocoa sector Technical Working Group.What we need to do is to develop a technical working tool which can market and attract investment in our economy,” he stated.

Speaking about the current technical outlook of the sector, Assistant Minister Steve Marvie stated that Liberia enjoyed an annual 3.9% growth in the agriculture sector before Ebola. With the current decline in said sector, we now have to look at targeted investment programs to stimulate growth.

Investors and exporters who provided their perspective of the sector mentioned that poor transportation facilities, lack of access to finance and limited incentives for investors are major challenges confronting the sector. They went on to express the need for the Cooperative Development Agency (CDA) to become firm on cooperative laws that protect farmers and financial intermediaries.