The role of NGO's has been applauded and criticized throughout history. In order to determine whether an NGO is actually promoting beneficial development policies I decided to focus on how ACDI/VOCA was affecting the lives of poor farmers in Liberia. In this paper I evaluate the impact of Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA) on the lives of the farmers in Liberia. I will argue that ACDI/VOCA helps improve economic prospects and livelihoods of Liberian farmers by discussing and analyzing three projects that have been implemented for economic development of poor people. Before discussing the work of ACDI/VOCA, it is important to understand the history of Liberia and why it is in need of such assistance from NGO's and other organizations. Liberia was established as a colony of slaves who were freed from the U.S. in 1882 and in 1847 created the republic of Liberia and became the first country on the African continent to receive their independence. There were increased conflicts between the Americo-Liberians and the native population as the minority of Americo-Liberians controlled much of the government. Constant struggle for power led to multiple civil wars, which ended with the peace agreement in 2003 (CIA World Fact Book). The civil war greatly affected the nations economy, which is predominantly based on rubber and commercial cocoa production. Liberia has a vast number of natural resources including the two mentioned above as well as cocoa, sugar cane, palm oil, timber , iron, and diamonds. The agriculture industry accounts for more than 75% of Liberia's GDP (CIA World Fact Book), which is why I have chosen ACDI/VOCA and their development strategies as the focus of this paper. About ACDI/VOCA and Projects in Liberia Established in 1963 in the U.S., ACDI/VOCA was created by farm cooperatives and provided assistance developing and underdeveloped nations to implement new agricultural practices as a means to improve the livelihoods of the farmers and their families in these nations. Over the years, the NGO has expanded its mission to, "A world in which people are empowered to succeed in the global economy (ACDI/VOCA Vision).  In Liberia, ACDI/VOCA has had six different programs that address issues of agriculture, nutrition, livelihood development and various programs to empower women and children, including both boys and girls. They contribute to these efforts by developing programs such as Land Rights and Community Forestry Project (LRCFP), Livelihood Improvement for Farming Enterprises (LIFE), and the Farmer-to-Farmer Program (F2F). The LRCFP was a project created in partnership with the Liberian government to allow for a formal method of claiming and managing forestland by rural populations. This project was carried out by training local communities in various agroforestry practices and has allowed for poor and rural Liberians especially women, who are a huge part of the informal economy, to improve economic pr