Determinants of Productivity among Vegetable Farmers in Bong County, Liberia

Liberia is known with variety of vegetables. However, the country is not self-suf icient in vegetable production. It
has not been able to adequately meet local consumption. There is still much to be done to improve productivityof
the country’s vegetable producers. This paper makes an investigation into the factors determining the productivityof vegetable farmers in Bong County, Liberia. Data were collected through the use of well-structured questionnaireand field observations from 425 vegetable farmers selected through multistage sampling technique. The datacollected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analyses. The results show that the mean ageof
the farmers was still within productive age. Most of the farmers were male, and are small scale producers. The most
significant socio-economic variables that influenced farmer’s productivity were sex, household size, farmsize andaccess to credit facilities. Land, fertilizer, herbicides, cultivation of improved crop varieties and credit facilitieswere most significant productivity factors. It was recommended that use of fertilizers, increase of scaleof
production, availability of improved crop varieties and credit facilities should be promoted. These would enhanceimproved vegetable production for better national economy and improved livelihood of citizens.