Liberia: Paying lip service to agriculture

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 ...