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Liberia: How Urban Agriculture is Shifting the ‘Gender Role’

In bustling cities across Liberia, urban agriculture is becoming increasingly popular among women, offering a promising path to financial stability and a vital role in the local food system.

By Claudius T. Greene Jr.
Liberian Observer
Mar 13, 2023

Excerpt:

Mercy Joe’s story is one of unexpected changes. The mother of five, had for nearly half of her adult life, been relying heavily on her husband to provide for their household.

But, in 2017, fate dealt her a cruel hand. Her husband, who had been the sole breadwinner of the family, lost his job. Suddenly, the comfortable life they had built together became threatened.

The days felt long and the nights even longer, as she struggled to make ends meet. And with no previous work experience and five children to care for, the prospect of finding a job seemed daunting.

That’s when she discovered urban agriculture. At the back of her home in Zubah Town, Duport Road, lies a slum that she never imagined would hold the key to her transformation of being financially and economically independent.

“ At first, I never knew how to make an urban farm and I have never thought about making it,” said Joe, who is now in a position of taking care of five children and husband as a result of a stable income from her backyard farm. “But when my husband lost his job in 2017, and things became hard, I had to find a way to help contribute to his hustle in taking care of the home.”

“Urban agriculture has opened a world of possibilities for me, one that I never thought possible before and has become the catalyst that transformed me from being a housewife to a breadwinner.”

“I used to overlook the swamp, but it has made me financially and economically independent. I am now able to contribute significantly to taking care of my home, with a single harvest earning me US$375. Urban farming has now become the primary source of my family income,” Joe added.

Read the complete article here.