Denis Opudo
Patience Koenig is a young female entrepreneur who specifically majors in the cocoa production in Lofa County, Liberia. She is the CEO and founder of the PK’s Organic Cocoa Manufacturing Company based in Voinjama, Lofa County. Patience has directed the government to come out and the citizens who have interest in the agricultural sector and more specifically in cocoa farming. She appealed to the recently launched Business Startup Center (BSC) 2017 Entrepreneurs Idol Business Plan Competition held in Monrovia.
In Liberia cocoa is one of the main cash crops. Therefore, there is a need to for the governments support to ensure it fully reaches its role in the growth and development of Liberian economy. Patience Koenig majors in the production of lotion, laundry soap, chocolate, and cocoa. Her group was launched in 2016 with a target of producing pocket-friendly and quality cocoa products for those who cannot afford the costly products.
PK’s Organic Cocoa Manufacturing Company, located in Voinjama, Lofa County, specializes in the production of laundry soap, cocoa lotion, and chocolate. Patience said that the entity had received around 26 acres of cocoa farmland in Lofa County since its establishment. The firm is presently producing a small quantity of cocoa. She, later on, added that her late father’s experience in cocoa farming is what motivated to follow the footsteps. She had to look for the solution to the cocoa problems at an early age, and that’s why she opted for PK’s Cocoa Manufacturing Company in 2016.
She recalled how in West Africa, Liberia ranks low among the cocoa producing countries; and as such, Koenig stressed the importance her initiative that will eventually put the country on par with other cocoa-producing West African countries. However, her ideas were not well received by a section of her community members. Some saw it as it was that early to get involved in such a farming activity, she never looked back, and currently, almost all of her community members are proud of her.
