By Bill W. Cooper
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), in collaboration with the Government, has convened a two-day consultation workshop to design a new Country Strategic Opportunities Programme (COSOP), covering the period 2026-2030 for Liberia.
Intended to bolster agricultural development in the country, the workshop brought together a diverse group of participants, including government officials, farmers, civil society organizations, and international development partners.
The COSOP is an IFAD multiyear framework for IFAD’s engagement in inclusive and sustainable rural transformation in the country, as the workshop runs from March 18, 2025, to March 19, 2025.
Also, the current COSOP (2020-2025) for Liberia was developed in collaboration with the Government and other stakeholders and approved by the IFAD Executive Board in December 2019 with the overall goal of increasing income and employment opportunities for rural men and women while building resilience to climate change and food insecurity.
It revolves around two strategic objectives, including enhancing the performance and inclusiveness of value chains that offer job opportunities, wealth creation, and food and nutrition security for rural people.
It also includes poor households, women and youth, contributes to an enabling environment for pro-poor policy development and enhances the capacity of the public sector in Liberia to deliver services to the rural poor.
The two-day consultation workshop further focuses on the design of a new COSOP for Liberia, as the new COSOP (2026-2030) will build on successes achieved and lessons learned from the current COSOP and leveraging IFAD’s areas of comparative advantages in the country.
The COSOP design will be based on IFAD’s engagements with the Government and consultations with stakeholders and partners, as the expected result from the workshop includes validation of the 2020 -2025 COSOP results and lessons learned.
Others are a new COSOP 2026 – 2030 aligned with national priorities articulated in the National Development Plan, the National Agriculture Development Plan and related sector plans and priorities, the UN Cooperation Framework and IFAD’s mandate and comparative advantage in rural development focused on smallholders.
Officially opening the workshop, Deputy Agriculture Minister for Planning and Development, David K. Akoi emphasized the importance of stakeholder engagement in the COSOP design process.
He said, “Agriculture is the backbone of our economy and the primary source of livelihood for the majority of our population as such, it is imperative that we develop a strategic plan that reflects the voices and needs of all stakeholders involved in the agricultural value chain.”
Earlier in her opening remarks, IFAD Country Representative to Liberia, Pascaline Barankeba, said the workshop is not just about reviewing or elaborating documents or policies but also shaping a vision of IFAD’s contribution to driving agricultural transformation, economic empowerment, and food security for rural communities in alignment with national priorities and SDGs.
According to her, for many years, IFAD has been a steadfast and committed partner in Liberia’s development journey, and our collaboration with the Government has yielded significant progress.
She noted that the development of the new COSOP for the next five years allowed them to consolidate achievements, integrate lessons learned, and ensure the alignment with the government’s evolving policies, particularly the ARREST Agenda for Inclusive Development (AAID) 2025-2029 and the National Agriculture Development Plan (NADP) 2024-2030.
She assured that the outcomes of IFAD’s engagement contribute to not only the country-level objectives but also to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN Cooperation Framework, and IFAD’s global mandate of investing in rural populations and reducing rural poverty.
“The success of the COSOP 2026-2030 will require strong government leadership, ownership, responsibility and mutual accountability, active private sector engagement and a strong commitment from development partners to align funding with national priorities for maximum impact.
This workshop is an opportunity to ensure that the new COSOP 2026-2030 is not just a document, but a roadmap for action—one that is owned by all stakeholders and truly reflects the needs of Liberia’s rural communities,” Barankeba added.
Deputy Finance Minister for Economic Management, Dehpue Zuo, thanked IFAD for the initiative, which he described as timely, thus pledging the Ministry of Finance’s fullest support towards improving the lives of Liberians through the Agriculture sector.