Please click this link to register for the Accompaniment Circle on Liberia. Zoom will send you a meeting link.

In Liberia's Grand Cape Mount County, the village of Gohn has an Interfaith Peacemaker Team. They began working with farmers in response to a challenge familiar to many rural communities: low agricultural productivity, dependence on upland farming (which requires regular cutting down of trees), and the pressure this places on forests and household livelihoods. What began as a local response has developed into a story of community resilience.

The Gohn team is helping farmers make the transition from traditional upland cultivation toward lowland rice farming, where farmers can make better use of available land and improve production. Today, approximately 54 IP Team farmers are connected to the initiative, in a six hectare field, engaging more than 500 farmers from the wider farming community. The community has completed soil testing, received training in lowland farming and composting, and worked with the Ministry of Agriculture for technical support. A grain storage facility has also been completed, and the community has already begun producing a surplus of rice.

But the most important part about this story is not the number of hectares or bags of rice. It is the change in our people's thinking. Farmers are realizing that food security can be built through organized community action, improved farming practices, stronger local structures, and better use of lowland areas. The work is also creating a pathway toward increased farmer income while reducing dependence on practices that contribute to deforestation.

The Accompaniment Circle is a great opportunity to listen to a community that has transformed itself. We will hear directly from the Gohn team and farmers about what they have experienced, what has changed, what they have learned, the challenges that remain, and what they believe is possible if this work is expanded.