Boosting investment in fertilizer and soil health in Liberia

Through partnership, the Fertilizer and Soil Health Hub for West Africa and the Sahel is developing a national soil information system for Liberia to boost productivity through improved soil health and appropriate use of fertilizers.

The Regional Hub hosted a three-day workshop in Monrovia in August 2025, which was coordinated by the IITA and focused on developing a road map for Liberia National soil information system. Launched in 2024 as a sub-program of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Fertilizer and Soil Health Hub for West Africa and the Sahel brings together diverse stakeholders who include IITA, International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), OCP Africa, African Plant Nutrition Institute (APNI), University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P), and the World Bank through the Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project.

Soil scientist and Country Focal Person for IITA in Liberia, Dr. Samuel Ayodele Mesele, is adamant that soil is the basis of all life and a support system for food security.

"Soil is essential and the basis of human existence; however, negligence of soil support over the years has led many of our countries, particularly Liberia in this case, not to have the live soil data," he said. "The idea is to see how we can create awareness about soil data how we can get additional value from it, and also gear efforts towards the development of the soil information system in Liberia and it is very important for Liberia in the sense that Liberia faces a significant gap in relevant soil data which are part and parcel of decision making in agriculture, climate adaptation and land management."

Mapping Liberia's soil health

Coordinated by the IITA, the workshop attracted representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture in Liberia, the Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI), the University of Liberia, and development partners, including the European Union Delegation to Liberia.

Dr. Mesele highlighted that the Regional Hub seeks to consolidate science, policy, and advocacy to provide actionable knowledge that attracts investments and informs policy in West Africa and the Sahel.

The Regional Hub is targeting to provide technical assistance in bridging the investment and policy gaps in Liberia through partnership with the EU-funded Soils4Liberia Project and other development partners like ISRIC, who also provide technical assistance in the realization of the Liberia National Soil Information System (LiNSIS).

The workshop sought to increase awareness of the importance of the soil information system and the requirements of such a system, as well as to understand the framework in which the soil information system can work. The workshop also focused on how to provide laboratory support so that all soil samples to be collected can be analysed within Liberia. As part of the plan is the establishment of a nutrient omission trials in 50 farmers fields across Liberia towards generation of site-specific fertilizer recommendations and formulations for Liberia targeting rice, a key staple in the country.

Agriculture stands firmly on a three-legged stool: the seed, the soil, and the management," Dr. Mesele explained. "No matter how exceptional the seed or how skilled the management, the harvest will inevitably fall short if the soil is nutrient depleted or poor. Good soil is the foundation; without it, even the best inputs cannot deliver high yields."

Dr. Mesele reiterated that the management of soil productivity was key to boosting food security for many smallholder farmers, who work poor soils and have little knowledge about using fertilizers.

"Poor soils make the people poor and poor people make the soil poorer," he said. "When the people are poor, they make the soil poor because they lack the technical knowledge and financial capacity to enrich the soil."

A soil information system is critical for Liberia, a country that has battled low productivity and infertile soils. The last national soil survey was done in the 1970s and is of little importance in today's agriculture, given environmental changes. Updated data is needed for informed decisions in agricultural and land use planning, as well as in the enhancement of soil productivity.

Liberia currently does not have a functional lab for soil analysis that can enable the generation of critical soil data to inform fertilizer use. As a result, information about soil testing is limited, and people are not aware of the importance of soil testing.

The Regional Hub is working with EU fundedSoils4Liberia and other stakeholders to empower the University of Liberia's lab to review and update its protocol and equip it. Besides, Liberia's agriculture is challenged by a lack of human capacity in terms of modern tools and technologies in innovative soil analytics.

"We do not have a digital soil map for Liberia so the hub is working with other scaling projects in the country to ensure that we have this updated digital soil mapping in place to help our decision making," said Dr. Mesele who highlighted that currently a blanket and general fertilizer recommendation was used in Liberia and this gave low productivity and led to environmental degradation. The Regional Hub is also in the final stages of rolling out a pilot study on nutrient omission trials (NOTs) to further understand current soil nutrient dynamics and provide data and evidence generation of site-specific fertilizer recommendations using the AgWise Decision Support Framework starting with rice.

The Regional Hub - underscoring the importance of collaboration - was working with national partners like CARI, the University of Liberia, and the Ministry of Agriculture to realise the goals of a sustainable soil information system in Liberia. The University of Liberia will be responsible for providing a functional and well-staffed laboratory for soil analysis. At the same time, CARI will oversee the implementation of NOTs, and the Ministry of Agriculture plays a facilitation role to ensure all innovations do not just rest with the researchers but are translated into policy and are scaled out through the agriculture extension system.

Next steps

Following the workshop, the Regional Hub is finalizing the implementation of NOTs to enhance understanding of Liberian soils. At the same time the regional hub technical team are working on generation of site-specific rice fertilizer recommendations.

Technical experts will also meet to discuss and agree on the soil sampling design tools and protocols to execute a nationwide soil survey. This will be followed by a physical assessment and soil analysis, leading to the development of the soil information system for Liberia.

Dr. Mesele emphasized that the Region Hub will collaborate with other stakeholders to scale the project. The EU-funded research for Liberia is funding and conducting the nationwide survey, so the data generated in the project will also be shared. In addition, the Regional Hub is working to build local capacity and ensure the sustainability of its interventions in Liberia.

Liberia is a fragile country. It has gone through a series of pandemics, starting from the war, then Ebola, and then COVID, which have all had a very adverse effect on human capacity development in Liberia. The Regional Hub plans to address this gap by working with different stakeholders, including government and university stakeholders, to strengthen agriculture in Liberia.

"The Hub will have a tremendous positive impact on the lives of rural farmers in Liberia," noted Dr. Mesele. "By the time this soil information system is established, farmers who have information about their land will optimize resource use and reduce wastage, and they can produce food sustainably."

Emphasizing the importance of having a strong local leadership at the helm of the Regional Hub's activities in Liberia, Dr. Mesele said this was to ensure coordination of several projects and avoid duplication of effort.

"With the Regional Hub fully operational in Liberia, we are coordinating efforts and different projects that have a component on the 20 functions of the Regional Hub. "We have identified the gaps where investment is needed and target funding to have an impact. We are coordinating and harmonizing efforts to ensure a higher return on investment in agriculture in Liberia."