Chinese agri-food company Mainland has announced plans to invest $100 million in Liberia’s agricultural sector beginning in 2025, according to a statement published on the Ministry of Agriculture’s website.
The funding will support projects in six key areas: cassava starch production, cocoa and coffee processing, rice milling, sugar production, and food logistics.
As part of the initiative, the company intends to establish a rice processing plant on a 1,000-hectare site in Fuamah, Bong County, by September or October 2025, to give farmers better market access. A cassava processing facility is also on the agenda, while cocoa processing is expected to begin as early as February or March 2026 to add value to crops that are currently exported in raw form.
Liberia’s Agriculture Minister, Alexander Nuetah, welcomed the investment, noting that the projects will help boost food security, strengthen the agricultural sector, and raise farmer incomes by creating new markets for local produce.
Mainland CEO Zhu Chen added that the projects aim to increase farmers’ earnings by 20–30% and involve more than 150,000 small-scale farmers within five years. “We will also expand plantations year by year, both our own and those managed by local communities,” he said.
For Mainland, this investment also represents a strategic expansion in Africa’s agri-food industry. The company already operates five natural rubber processing plants and a palm oil facility in Ivory Coast, as well as a sunflower oil production unit launched in Tanzania in 2024.
