Assessment of the Frequency of the Consumption of Traditional Liberian Soups: A Case Study among 14 Gobachop Marketers, 14 Omega Market, Liberia

Background: In Liberia, soups are considered as identity traits. There are at least 20 soups in Liberia. Few of them
are attached to particular tribes. Regardless of existing beliefs of them, majority of the population does not have
sufficient knowledge of their consumption level as well as the importance these soups have on the human body.
Methods: Both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were utilized in this study. The Descriptive
Research Design was used during the research process in order to illustrate the frequency, central tendency and
spread of data, plot, table and percentage of variables. The purposive non-probability sampling method was used to
select the study population. Jamovi 2.3.2 and Microsoft Excel 2010 were used to do the data analysis.
Results: This study showed that potato greens (21.4%), followed by cassava leaf (16.6%) and torgborgee (16.6%)
are the three most favorite soups of 14 Gobachop Marketers. It further indicated that the soups that are mostly
consumed among the respondents (more than 6 times per month) are potato greens (50.2%), torgborgee (34.3%),
cassava leaf (29.8%) and beans (25.3%). All of the traditional Liberian soups were classified into three groups;
namely, thick, thin and special soups. The importance of these soups were well stated.
Conclusion: Identifying the frequency of the consumption of traditional Liberian soups is a better way to help all
Liberians to know which soups are mostly consumed by the population on a monthly basis and their importance
thereof to the human body. This research is serving as a baseline study to inform the decisions of major stakeholders
when developing a national food guide in the future.