It has been many years now since the civil war in Liberia ended, yet daily life in Liberia today is still effected by the conflict with ongoing tensions over ethnicity and land issues, many of which are resurfacing as they were never addressed before, during or after the war. These seething tensions are reflected in the need for the continued deployment of 14,000 UNMIL (United Nations Mission in Liberia) comprising 11,000 troops and 1,100 police officers who act both the maintain the peace as well as having a humanitarian role.

Of Liberia’s population of 3.5 million, 1.8 million are children, and all the teenagers who are part of this child population are still scarred by war, and additionally have poor educational opportunities with little prospect of finding legal employment in a country where corruption is rife from the highest levels down to local policemen.

Overall life outcomes for those living in Liberia are poor. In the fourteen year long civil war 250,000 lives were lost out of its small population of 3.5 million, its infrastructure destroyed, 83.7% of its population are now living below the recognised poverty threshold and 111 out of every 1000 children die before their fifth birthday. Life expectancy overall is just 45 years and employment is just 15% of the population.

There are just 40 Liberia doctors and 50 nurse midwives for the entire population with many clinics and other medical facilities destroyed during the war years. This general lack of health care resources is compounded by the country’s hot, tropical climate that is ripe for numerous diseases from cholera, lymphatic filariasis, yellow fever, river blindness, to the country's greatest health threat of malaria. Outside urban populations such as Monrovia, only around 60% of the population has access to safe drinking water, whilst electricity is rare as are schools fit for purpose.

Heavily dependent on foreign aid, for 70% of the population life means working in agriculture whilst just 8% are engaged in industry with 22% involved in the service sectors. Given that agriculture was the basis of life for most Liberian families the war caused irreparable damage, with villages destroyed, farm building gutted and many of those working on the land forced to flee for safety. As one farmer noted "When I came back, there was nothing."

Starting from nothing is not easy in any walk of life, but never more so in agriculture when it can takes years to start harvesting worthwhile crops including coffee, cocoa, rice, cassava, palm oil, sugarcane and bananas. The situation in Liberia is hampered further by the fact that 80% of the population live in poverty, without access to tools and other equipment to help with the rebuilding.

Many are also fearful that warfare will break out gain and are wary of building permanent structures that could again be razed to the ground. Reconstruction efforts have also been slowed by the destruction caused to the country's infrastructure with few paved roads and an inadequate rail system. The short video above explores the impact of the war on farming and the efforts being made to help those engaged in agriculture to produce more food than they require to create better lives and better living conditions whilst the video below gives further insights into daily life in Liberia.