Liberia's Agriculture Minister, Jeanine Cooper, has expressed concerns against a proposal to shift subsidy funds given to rice importers to rice production, stating that the country's production capacity is not yet sufficient to replace imports. She suggests making rice production a national priority and organizing a national conference on rice production to address the issue of rice shortages in the market. The Senate has reprimanded the Ministers of Finance and Development Planning, and Agriculture for not appearing before the Senate as required.