Liberia: Women Farmers in Bong County Decry Being Forced to Lease Land for Farming

GBARTALA, Bong County — Twenty-Eight-year-old Mallah Dolo, a single mother of two, was reading education at the Cuttington University in Bong County, but was forced to become a University dropout and turned to a farmer, when her benefactor, former Bong County District five lawmaker, Edward Karfiah, did not win the last election. 

By Mae Azango, mae.azango@frontpageafricaonline.com

Cultivating the soil for three years in Agartala, Bong County, where she lives since quitting school, Dolo grows crops and vegetable, such as cassava, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, corns, bitter balls or (Garden Eggs) Okra, Pepper, Potato greens, cassava leaves and processing her own farina, but she still faces numerous challenges. 

Speaking in an exclusive interview at a recent three-day National Climate Justice Summit, organized by ActionAid Liberia, and its International and National partners, held at the ESJ Ministerial Complex in Congo Town Liberia, Dolo disclosed that the most challenging part in farming is leasing customary land from Town chiefs within their community to farm, instead of having access to their own land according to the Land Rights Law.

“We the female farmers need help from the government in terms of getting land to farm on, because we are renting the land from our own Town Chief in order to plant our crops and vegetables, and we have to give half of whatever crops and vegetables we harvest. This is not benefiting us, because we do not make much money to sustain our families when we sell the remaining farm produce,” said Dolo. 

Dolo and many other women are facing similar challenges in many rural communities, but she is lucky to be among women farmers under ActionAid partner called Domafeign, which means ‘future’, in the Gola Tribe and it caters to women farmers, but expressed its disappointment over the women farmers’ dilemma.  

“Women doing farming should have access to public farm land in rural communities without fees or tokens, because public farmland is a right for all, including women in farming activities. We will follow the matter up to the Land Administrator’s office in Bong County,” says Domafeign head, Mr. Foxter Jenemana.

Women play a significant role in Liberia’s agriculture, according to the World Food Program, and they account for approximately 80% of the agricultural labor force and are responsible for 93% of food crop production. 

But while agriculture and forestry is important to Liberia’s economy, women’s access and control of land is limited, despite their majority workforce in the agricultural industry in the country. 

The 2018 Liberia Land rights law, is the first legislation to recognize customary ownership of land in Liberia and secures the rights of women to own land and to participate in decision-making and land governance. But since the enactment of Liberia’s 2018 Land Rights Law, women still struggle for land to grow their food. 

Interestingly, the Liberia Land Authority (LLA), which is responsible for land issues in the Country and forms part of drafting the Land Rights Law, has an arm in Bong County, but is unaware of the happenings right under its nose. 

Ms. Amelia Cassell, Bong County Land Administrator, said it is new to her office that women in rural communities are leasing land from Town Chiefs to farm, because no woman farmer is supposed to lease public land in any community. 

In that, customary or public land is for all, including men, women and youth who are all part of the decision making in land governance, according to the Land Rights Law. 

“This has not been brought to our attention. Usually when we visit these rural communities, women are afraid to speak out on issues affecting them pertaining to the Land, so if this woman from Gbartala can come to our office in Gbarnga and let us know the main community in Gbartala this is happening, we will meet with the Town Chief and settle it,” she said.

Cassell further disclosed that people in rural communities are not fully aware of the Land Rights Law because of lack of awareness, and her office has only one motorbike and cannot cover the entire Bong County to carry on adequate awareness.   

Back to Dolo, who described the difficulties in using her physical strength in brushing and planting crops and vegetables, while watering and weeding grass from the farm is important to the growth of farm produce. But she was very happy to be a part of the National Climate Justice Summit, in order to showcase and sell her farm produce and learn more about the Climate change and its importance. 

“The farm work is very hard, right now, my children can help me weed the grass, after they come from school. As I learned from my mother, they are also learning from me. I am grateful to Action Aid and its partner Damafea, because they are providing us with some farming tools and seeds products, but we need access to our farm land to farm, because it is not easy to rent land to farm on,” she said

The post Liberia: Women Farmers in Bong County Decry Being Forced to Lease Land for Farming appeared first on FrontPageAfrica.