Liberia: Paying lip service to agriculture

Published Apr 12, 2022

Tridge summary

The article criticizes the Weah administration for planning to allocate US$12 million for rice import subsidy, despite having a budget of only US$6 million for agriculture. The move is seen as a way to avoid consumer charges and is unsustainable and financially irresponsible, according to the article. The government's prioritization of rice subsidy over agriculture is seen as a failure and a waste of resources. The article calls for the development of a national agriculture policy to encourage rice production and self-sufficiency, rather than relying on imports.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Editorial: Information that the Weah administration is preparing a supplementary budget to allocate US$12 million for rice importers when the country's entire budget for agriculture is just about US$6 million clearly demonstrates that this administration is paying lip service to food sufficiency in Liberia. This paper has gathered that the US12 million, which would be in the form of subsidy to importers, is intended to offset extra costs incur during importation and eventually avoid extra charges to consumers. This may sound politically expedient in the short-run but is neither sustainable nor financially prudent. With elections scheduled for 2023, President Weah and his government are clearly sacrificing rice production here which could lead to self-sufficiency in food for personal political interest hence, subjecting a hungry population to rice politics. It is highly incomprehensible that a government with a US$5,561,226 annual budget for agriculture, is planning a supplementary ...

Source: All Africa