Cocoa in Post-Conflict Liberia: The Role of Institutions for the Development of Inclusive Agricultural Markets

Liberia has a long history of non-inclusive development with dire consequences for its population, in terms of poverty and conflict. This research explores recent trends in the post-war Liberian cocoa market that suggest a possible break with the past. Structural changes in the cocoa market are found to have strengthened the bargaining power of smallholder farmers and increased their market participation on increasingly beneficial terms in a number of ways - such as a larger share of the world-market price and better access to inputs and services. The cocoa market has become more inclusive. The research explains how a series of institutional changes - changes in the formal and informal rules of the game - have contributed to this process and suggests why. It identifies four major causal mechanisms that help us better understand the role that institutions can play in making agricultural markets more inclusive - in Liberia and beyond.