The Age Old Question
Rice is the main staple food of Liberia. The saying goes, “If a Liberian has not eaten rice, he/she has not eaten at all.” So why does Liberia import most of its rice? The Liberian soil is perfectly capable of growing rice. In fact there are farmers on the ground that grow rice and try to sell it throughout the Country. However, these Farmers are struggling to make ends meet selling goods that Liberian people eat on a daily basis.
Basic Economics 101 says supply and demand.
In this case, it would seem that the Liberia people demand imported rice and therefore there is more supply of it. According to Jeanine Milly Cooper, locally grown rice is wasting away in the fields as the imported rice sells faster than it can come in through the Port. As you can imagine, this is very frustrating to local farmers on the ground.
So how do we solve the problem?
I suggest a Farmers Union, that can work directly with the Ministry of Agriculture. If the Ministry of Agriculture is corrupt and does not help Farmers on the ground, then the Farmers Union can lobby and support someone who will fight for them. There needs to be reasonable Tax laws on imported goods and services that enter the Country. There also has to be regulations on what comes into the Port and what goes out.Most of all, money made from Taxes should go back to research, agricultural education, scholarships for agriculture students etc. Not in the pockets of “leaders.”
I leave you with this quote and it should shake you to the bone.
You cannot imagine how disheartening and painful it is when someone tells me “my workers don’t like your rice oh”. That’s my life savings and my bank loan in there. If we cannot compete here, no matter how emotional others get about it, we will export it. Maybe for consumers elsewhere, this local product will be their luxury food.-Jeanine Milly Cooper
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