According to reports, the Liberian government is thinking about boosting the subsidy for rice importers from USD$11 million to USD$20 million dollars in the upcoming fiscal year. The Liberian Senate is making that choice, according to Saah Joseph, the chairman of the Senate’s Committee on Executive, because the government has learned that there would be a severe global food crisis next year.
While performing the dedication of the Community of Hope Agriculture Project’s rice processing facility in Zubah Town on Dupport Road in Paynesville over the weekend, Senator Joseph made the disclosure. He asserts that the best way to ensure the stability of the nation’s food supply is not through imports of rice but rather by financing domestic farmers.
“Unfortunately, there is no evidence of the 500 million US dollars provided to the country’s agriculture industry under the previous administration.”
He argued that if this money were really used wisely, there would be more than 20 contemporary rice mills in use because a brand-new one, including the dryer, costs only two million US dollars. No other country in West Africa, according to the senator for Montserrado County, is subsidizing rice imports for its inhabitants, as Liberia.
Reverend Robert Bimba, executive director of the Community of Hope Project, made a request for funding to buy more machinery so that more rice could be produced for the Liberian market. He claims that the more money Liberia spends on food imports the more poverty the government invites in and the more labor it exports to the nations where the food is coming from.
He explained that Cultiv8 Nation, a company based in the United States, donated $10,000 to build the warehouse, with Chris Thomas, the Executive Director, keeping an eye on it on social media. According to Reverend Bimba, 80 percent of the rice crop last year was spoilt due to a lack of a dryer machine, and a pickup truck is required to carry the other farms to Monrovia for processing.
Louis Kuupen, the Deputy Resident Representative for Program at the UNDP, urged for a sustainable and viable seed production program to boost agricultural productivity and enhance the standard of living for rural smallholder farmers. He praised the crucial role of smallholder farmers, highlighting the fact that when local agricultural farmers are empowered, they can manage resources responsibly and make a big contribution to the problem of Liberia’s rice shortage.
Reverend Sandee Stepter, Second Vice President of the Liberia Council of Churches, Ephrain Teage, Deputy Director of Protocol, Office of the Vice President, Wilmot Wesseh, Resource Officer, Office of the Representative District Four, Montserrado County, and the Ministry of Agriculture attended the program, which concluded with the symbolic sale of a few 10kg bags of rice.
Reported by: Augustine Octavius
Contact: +231777463963
Email: augustineoctavius@gmail.com
