Agriculture, especially rice farming, is the chief occupation of locals in Gbarpolu. Households grow vegetables, eddoes, bananas, plantains, sweet potatoes and cassava as food crops. Rubber, oil palm, coffee, cocoa, and plantain/banana constitute the major cash crops of the County (see Figure below). Palm nuts are processed into the staple palm oil for sale and domestic consumption. Two other important sources of income are hunting and fishing. About 63% of households were engaged in inland fishing in rivers, creeks and swamps in 2005.

Among Liberian counties, Gbarpolu has one of the worst food access profiles after Bomi, Lofa and Grand Kru. The County has a high percentage of highly vulnerable food insecure people. The irony is the County has very fertile arable land that can produce tremendous yields to feed its people and others. According to the famers, the real constraints to increased output are the lack of household labor, seeds, tools and access to capital.

- Provision of seeds and seedlings and tools to farmers (as up to 62% of household did not have seeds for the planting season in 2005
- Provision of extension training in modern methodologies to mitigate pests, plant diseases, and animal attack.
- Provision of low-interest rates loans to farmers for the hiring of extra labourers and other inputs .

Three potential investment and employment generation projects were identified and presented for consideration during the CDA Regional Consultations:

- establishment of an agro-industry corporation to develop plantations, animal husbandry, and food processing in the appropriate areas in the County’s six districts. Belle, Bokomu and Gou-Nwolala Districts have high potential for food crops while Bopolu, Gbarma and Kongba Districts have high potential for tree crops. There is adequate land available for plantations of both food and tree crops in all six districts. The County administration has requested the district administrations to identify “land banks” of at least 50,000 acres of land suitable for large-scale agricultural development.

- establishment of a Wood Processing and Furniture Manufacturing industry with facilities in the timber producing areas of the County. Gbarpolu has great forest product potential with commercially viable forests in Belle, Bokomu, Gou-Nwolala, Bopolu and Kongba Districts, where the FDA has intimated that Forestry Management Contracts (FMC) and Timber Sales Contracts (TSC) will be available under the National Forest Management Strategy. The County intends to promote processing of the timber products at sawmills and furniture manufacturing plants within the County so as to benefit from value-addition as opposed to raw timber, and to promote income generation and employment opportunities.

- developing tourism initiatives in forestry conservancy areas identified by FDA under the National Forest Management Strategy. Gbarpolu’s forests have a diverse range of flora and fauna, scenic areas and an environment suitable for development of small eco-friendly hotels, get-away lodges and safari camps.

The County also intends to ensure proper management of her other mineral resources, mainly gold and diamonds, and invest the County proceeds from Mineral Development Agreements in expanding the road network, education and health infrastructure, and promote agriculture and other income-generation activities for the citizens. Individual illegal artisan alluvial miners conduct most of the County’s mining activities at present, and the County will encourage these individual miners to legitimise and consolidate their enterprises into cooperative ventures to access benefits from economies of scale. Large-scale mining endeavours will benefit from cooperation and coordination with the Ministry of Lands Mines and Energy.

- Diamonds: A relatively large area (60 x 120 km) along the western border with Sierra Leone between the Lofa River and the Mano River is underlain by the Archean Mano Craton, suggesting high potential of diamondiferous kimberlites, the primary source of diamonds. Two of Gbarpolu’s six districts fall wholly within this area, and practically all river systems in the area carry diamonds and host extensive areas of artisanal diamond workings. Currently, Mano River Resources, the holder of the Kpo License, has conducted extensive geological field work and discovered 6 kimberlites in the Weasua area of Gbarma District, of which four are confirmed as pipes of diamondiferous nature, two with substantial surface areas. Numerous high-interest indicator mineral anomalies, which have not yet been sufficiently interpreted, are indicating that more pipes may remain to be discovered in the Weasua kimberlite cluster area. American Mining Associates is exploring similar potentialities in the Kumgbor area of Kongba District.

- Gold: Liberty Gold Group of Companies and Diamond Fields of Canada are actively exploring gold mining potential in Henry Town and the Ducor Minerals License area in Bopolu District.

- Iron ore: Potential iron ore deposits in the Bomi East and Bong Range may also provide the County additional mineral development opportunities. The government has yet to tender the exploration licenses in these areas, although BHP Billiton has been conducting some geological surveys in the Gongbeya Chiefdom area of Bopolu District, which would likely fall within these clusters.