Syrulwa Somah, Phd
28 March 2008
opinion
As the world is at a blink of energy crisis, Liberia should be proactive to plan for this unnecessary energy crisis quickly with one of her blessings (sugarcane) that can significantly reduce unemployment, deforestation, global warning and open up a huge Sub-Saharan African market for sugarcane growers. In this new Liberia, we ought to be ahead of our time and not slow walk or be like an "obstacle man", whom, regardless of what suggestion was advanced, his mind instantly harbored all possible obstacles in connection with it. Our nation will soon be facing a greater energy crisis that is likely to take away all our money so we must begin to dream and take action now to prevent a future energy crisis in Liberia. We should not go crawling through this pending energy crisis of your time on our hands and knees half-defeated. We are ought to stand up to it, that is all, and we must not give way under it until something breaks. And it won't be us, it will be the energy crisis.
I believe this project should use the strengths of Liberian culture and traditions to make Liberian reconstruction more manageable to its people. It should use available resources to mobilize local ex-combatants and give hope to the people and districts that the government cannot provide employment for now. I believe the project will spillover mainly to support local enterprises in the creation of jobs by training and establishing farmer-to-farmer programs and create dependency brigades at community levels to control hunger and violence in Liberia. Indeed, since poverty, unemployment, and the lack of food are some of the major causes of violence and military coups in Africa, it is imperative that sources of employment be provided for Liberian ex-combatants and other destitute and internally displaced Liberians with a structured environment such as the proposed sugarcane plantation for an ethanol project.
I believe the Ethanol Project in Liberia should be a two fold pilot project. Firstly, it should be a commitment to create relatively easy production of ethanol as alternative fuel to minimize the high cost of gasoline in Liberia today. The price of gasoline in Liberia, considering an 85 percent unemployment rate and low civil servant earnings of about US$30 per month and subsistence spending rate of about US$0.33 per day, the price for a gallon of gasoline in Liberia today is US $4.50 to $5.00. Liberians families, businesses, and farmers are being hit hard everyday by the huge rise in gas prices-an increase of 100 percent in the last 14 years alone. Indeed, these record high prices for a gallon of gasoline mean Liberians cannot travel or move their goods or must pay hard earned pennies a month to fill their vehicle tanks and upkeep their fuel generators for electricity supply. Liberia, it seems, cannot be developed with such energy constraints hanging over her without finding or planning for a lasting solution to the energy problem by using home grown alternative fuel.
I am saying these things because when you are a slow walker, according to a Bassa proverb, you should make yourself available ahead of the road so you can avoid being left behind. Hence, I think you all know that before the advent of transportation, rural poor people often carried heavy loads over long distances, and the slower person often fell behind the line, thereby becoming deadweight on the queue. In such a case, the group may end-up missing the market sale or they may end-up taking portion of the slower person's load to make their load heavier. Thus, as a mark of profound learning, the Bassa elder would tell the Bassa youth that the slow walker should always be ahead of the road. This is why you need to dream big, I need to dream big, and all of us have to dream big so we cannot become deadweights in the national efforts to rebuild Liberia. We must act our part well as citizens, businesses, presidents, ministers, or administrator as we all strive to redevelop and rebuild our homeland of Liberia. So go ahead of the road now if you consider yourself to be a slower walker.
Because many of us in Liberia do not dream big or walk faster, we have managed to slow down the development in this country. Over the years, we as a people have sadly continued to live too small for our spirits to the point that our nation is so blessed with everything its needs for development and we do not know it. Allow me to tell you some of the blessing endowed on us that make me wonder why we continue to be at the bottom of the well. Our nation is blessed with 43% of the Upper Guinea Forest and the earth's finest climate and fertile womb for agricultural enterprise: for growing bananas, rice, cacao, cassava, coffee, kola, mango, okra, oil palm, sugarcane, papaya, rubber and much more. Iron ore tops the list of our mineral wealth, making this country one of the top iron ore exporters in the world. In addition, we have in Liberia barite, cyanite, diamonds, gold, graphite, and manganese, which when exploited properly, can afford each and every Liberian the opportunity to go to professional school or college, build and live in decent homes, and enjoy great health, peace and stability.
Liberia also has nearly 14 million acres of ....; 230 species of useable timber such as Mahogany, Walnut, Makere, palm trees, red ironwood (Ekki for house and bridge building), Teak, Whismore, Camwood, Abura, and Niango. And in the wildlife department, the likes of elephants, water buffalo, viviparous toad, cross river gorilla, water buffalo, zebra duiker, leopards, diana monkey, chimpanzees, white mangabey, pygmy hippopotamus, many bird species, including magnificent birds such as the "dancing bird", eagles to gymnobucco calvus , gymnobucco peli , pogoniulus scolopaceus, pogoniulus white-breasted guinea fowl atroflavus, pogoniulus subsulphureus, buccanodon duchaillui and lybius vieilloti form a part of this natural resources endowment. Yet we have not realized the promise of natural endowment. Brothers and sisters, do you not see why the rest of world leaves us behind? Brothers and sisters, do you not see why none of these natural resources has the value of a grain of sand?
Mind you, there are nations of the world that do not have as much as we do but they turn their single blessing into assets. Take the African nation of Senegal. The number one natural resource of Senegal is peanut, but with this crop, Senegal has one of the most developed and peaceful democratic societies in Africa. But I am not going to focus on using peanut for national development in Liberia. I would like to focus on how Liberia can reduced its dependency on foreign nations for gasoline and other energy supplies if we could develop an ethanol industry in Liberia by increasing sugarcane production and processing while learning from the experiences of Brazil and other Nations.
Sugarcane as a source for ethanol production
Sugarcane has its modern origins in Papua New Guinea and it is grown worldwide. As far back as the 3000 BC, India was a major producer of raw sugar, a pure whole unrefined non-centrifugal cane sugar, called Panela, Gur Jaggery, or "poor people's sugar." The components of sugarcane in Liberia are the same as the ones in India, Jamaica, Barbados, Panama, Cuba, Brazil and other nations. The nations that I have named have earned their names in history for making profit out of sugarcane. For example, for 100 years Barbados remained the richest of all the European colonies in the Caribbean region from sugar. By 1740s, the sugarcane sweepstake landed in Jamaica and Saint-Domingue when Barbados and Jamaica jointly took the helm as the world's primary sugar producers. The Africans nations of Mauritius and Malawi, in addition to Brazil, are significant exporters of such specialty sugars.
Like Brazil, Cuba dreamed rose as the richest land in the Caribbean with sugar being its dominant crop. Cuba also prospered above other islands because they used better methods when harvesting the sugar crops. They had been introduced to modern milling methods such as water mills, enclosed furnaces, steam engines, and vacuum pans. All these things increased their production and production rate. The only difference between Liberia and Brazil is that our first major sugarcane plantation project, the Liberia Sugar Corporation (LIBSUCO) in Maryland, which was established during the Tolbert administration didn't last. Our nation allowed herself to be caught between the politics of Taiwan and China and when Liberia established relations with Taiwan. The diplomatic relations with Taiwan not only angered the Chinese, but also caused the closure of LIBSUCO after the Chinese withdrew from the project. This 6,000-acre sugarcane plantation field is still in the southeastern-most part of Maryland. There is a need to dream big and reach out to other nations like Brazil and send delegation to rejuvenate LIBSUCO.
Brazil is growing economic power and Liberia is not because we are not ahead of the road and we did put our eggs in one basket. Liberia is just like the proverbial opossum that has one hole to escape, so it often becomes the town people's soup. All the hunter needs to do is to block that one hole and set his basket or net, and opossum will be caught and consumed. So as you can see the only difference between Liberia and brazil is that in the mid-1970's, the high cost of imported oil led Brazil to dream big and act on it by developing a program that substitutes alcohol for fuels made from petroleum. They plan ahead of time. Brazilian farmers "grew" fuel--that is, they raised sugarcane that distilleries turned into alcohol for fuel. Today, Brazil leads all countries in the production of alcohol for fuel and in the manufacture of alcohol-fuelled cars. Most new cars made in Brazil rely entirely on alcohol for their fuel. My point here is that Liberia has the same potential like Brazil but we suffer from a lack of vision.
Our nation stands to benefit a great deal from current and future industrialization of sugarcane potential by launching a comprehensive ethanol production program similar to that of Brazil in the 1970s. In the post-1973 oil crises, Brazil faced similar energy problems as Liberia today, so the Brazil government set up the Pro-Alcool Program" in 1975 under its leader General Emilio Garastuzu Medici. Today, Brazil ethanol industry is not only one of the largest commercial biomass energy projects in the world but the people of Brazil have abated their energy dependence problem. In other words, a comprehensive ethanol blueprint and production program was subsequently launched, which drastically reduced Brazil's foreign fuel dependency problems. Under the program, about 40% of the automobiles plying the highways and byways of Brazil are retrofitted or designed to run on pure ethanol and the rest use gasohol, as a result of the Brazilian Fuel Alcohol Program. In fact the nation of Brazil is so successful with its sugarcane that current U.S. President George Bush heralded a new ethanol agreement with Brazil, a so-called "Third World nation." My brothers and Sisters, now you see what dream can do!
I believe starting sugarcane production and reforming our environment is a must in the New Liberia, in order to maximize the nation's resources for the benefit of all Liberians. I believe that one of the most effective ways to reduce our dependence and reduce future civil disturbances in Liberia is to start our own ethanol productivity with what we have and not what we hope we should have. Because self-energy is important for the national growth and development of any country, the new Liberian republic must commit to a long-term sugarcane development program duly sanctioned through legislative enactment and supported by the executive branch of government.
I am of the opinion that throughout our existence we as a nation haven't learned to dream and believe in our dreams and see with our mind's eye, our imagination. When we use our mind's eye, we open the door to infinite national development and reconstruction possibilities. When we use our mind's eye, our imagination takes us on a journey and allows us to see beyond what Liberia is to what it could be. By collectively focusing not on what our nation is, but what Liberia can become, we discover the key to unlocking our national potential.
Most of the world's most effective biofuels products have been not only discovered from compounds derived from sugarcane, but also these are abundant found in tropical climates, where biodiversity is greatest, and often in "biodiversity hotspots" like Liberia. In fact, Liberia has some of the best soils in the world that support sugarcane growth. Because sugarcane requires intense sunlight and abundant water for satisfactory growth, Liberia offers the best environment.
We must now act on our ethanol dream and build a company by devoting 125,000 acres of land to sugarcane production as we have done in the areas of rubber and palm plantations. Ethanol which is a clean-burning, high-octane fuel, is produced from renewable sources such as corn, wheat, potato wastes, peanuts, cheese whey, soybean, rice straw, sawdust, urban wastes, paper mill wastes, yard clippings, molasses, sugarcane, seaweed, surplus food crops, and other cellulose waste. By ethanol, we mean the same chemical or alcohol in alcoholic beverages that when distilled can approach 96% purity, meaning it is as clear as water. At its most basic, ethanol is grain alcohol, produced from crops such as corn.
Pure, 100% ethanol is not generally used as a motor fuel; instead, a percentage of ethanol is combined with unleaded gasoline. This is beneficial because the ethanol:
decreases the fuel's cost
increases the fuel's octane rating
decreases gasoline's harmful emissions
All the automobiles in Liberia can use E10 with no retrofitting to the engine. It is important to note that it does not take a special vehicle to run on "ethanol". This is why our nation must act now to be ahead of the road to begin planning to have the first ethanol for her own independency. There are many more benefits that we can get from sugarcane. In addition to gasoline and local rum, sugarcane can be used an as antiseptic to treat wounds, gangrene and can also prevent rickets.
For my hope is that one day we will look back at this point in time and clearly see whether or not we answered the patriotic call to develop and live on our land. Of course, we must first be clear about that calling. We must be united in this common cause. We must be unflinching in the face of the many obstacles ahead. We must know that our foremost calling is to free our nation from dependency and handout-a new Liberia that possesses the core values of discipleship, patriotism of heart, and a sense of national family. Most of all, we as citizens must possess a burning passion to reach out to each other and support each other's dreams.
Liberia enjoys the earth's finest climate and fertile soil to be the next Brazil of West Africa for ethanol production. With its high regional rainfall, rivers and lakes, which encompasses 15 river basins, abundant streams and four types of coastal wetlands such as the Mesurado, Lake Shepherd, Bafu Bay and inland riverine like Marshall (Du and Farmington basins) and the Cestos-Senkwehn, Kpatawe (Kromah, 2001), Liberia is ripe for ethanol production. Liberia the number one waterfalls nation in Africa and the world, due to the rainfall and temperature which determine the growth of vegetation. This is where the new sources of energy and revenue battle for the next century are being waged.
Indeed, Brazil is the largest country in South America that straddled the mighty Amazon and other enormous rivers wind through vast green area of towering trees and steamy jungles bestowed with natural resources. Like Brazil, Liberia's rain forests lie between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, which produce complex forests in the Amazon basin of South America, Congo basin of Africa, and islands of Sumatra, Borneo, and New Guinea. Although only about 6 percent of the land area, the tropical moist forests account for more than 17 percent of the world's productive land.
My brothers and sisters, we are a blessed people and not a cursed people, regardless of our many problems. I think we are a blessed people because to live in a tropical region means living between regions of high annual productivity that account for a substantial portion of the total biological activity on earth, at least 32 percent of the living matter produced on land each year. Hence, to live in tropical region like our nation means that there is no cold month, rainfall is abundant, and no season of dormancy for plants and animals. It means living in blessed land where biological activity continues year round. These blessing we must harness and cultivate without destroying our environment.
Our Ancestral Creator gives us spirit and potential that are not only infinite but also know no bounds. To have the kind of Liberia we want and not the Liberia we which we have, each of us as a citizen of Liberia should pick our dream carefully because we can become no larger than our vision. The size of your dream or what we see for our nation limits the size of our national development and individual accomplishments. Our parent didn't ill advise us on this; they didn't mince words when they said poor eyes limit what we can see, but poor vision limits what we can do.
In this new Liberia, we should look into our own heart because by so doing, our vision will only then become clear. Our vision is like a blueprint that we use to navigate our national destination. Once we know that we want a certain kind of Liberia, we can work backwards, figuring out what roads to take to get us safely to our desired Liberia. Brothers and sisters, if you cannot dream you cannot achieve. As soon as we have dream, that is after we know where we wish to take Liberia, things start to happen. Without a map, or vision, we cannot predict a new Liberia, but with a roadmap, we become seers for our nation. We can see into the new Liberia because we knowingly create it. Japanese proverbs prevails on us, however, that, "Vision without action is a daydream and action with without vision is a nightmare." This is why we must take action on things that we believe are good in our nation. After all, action without vision is action for action's sake-it is misdirected, for it leads to the end of the road that doesn't take us where we wish to take our nation.
I believe that we, as Liberians, when continually focus on our national visions, they will enflame us with passion. And that passion, or fiery enthusiasm, will propel us past our self-doubt, fear, and complacency. It will keep our nation inspired. It will fill our nation with hope. My dear brothers and sisters, it is never too late to have a dream, embrace it, and bring it to life. Many dreams have died by the wayside because of nagging self-doubt, because of the belief "it is not in me." But if an inspiring vision ever flashed into your mind, it is only because it is in you striving to get out. Don't kill the dream of Liberia energy independency; kill the self-doubt of Liberia dependency. For if we keep moving forward, no matter how small the steps, we will reach our destination.
I really wish I did not have to sound strikingly like Old Testament prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah who harangued the Jews for having forsaken the law of God and their people and thereby brought disaster down upon themselves. But we in Liberia must realize that we are bringing costly energy disasters on ourselves if we do not take ownership of this energy problem. We regularly read and hear of crude oil price going up relating to recession and job loss in other parts of the world. It is like the way we used to hear about coup d'etats and civil unrest in the 1950s 1960s and 1970s and never prepared our nation to avoid it happening to us as a nation and people.
I therefore call upon our lawmakers to pass a stronger (full-teeth) national energy legislations, and to rally and educate our people to find a common solution to the looming energy crisis Liberia with a spirit of national unity. Remember, a spirit without a vision is a life without a mission. We owe it to ourselves, the nation, and the next generation of Liberians to come, to follow our dreams not just for us but for them. Let me end with the words of Woodrow Wilson who once said, "You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand." Let us try ethanol production and see if we won't reduce our current dependency on foreign sources of energy. I know we can, but we must have the vision to try.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Syrulwa Somah, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Safety and Health and Graduate Studies Coordinator at NC A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is author of several books, including, The Historical Resettlement of Liberia and Its Environmental Impact, Christianity, Colonization and State of African Spirituality, and Nyanyan Gohn-Manan: History, Migration & Government of the Bassa (a book about traditional Bassa leadership and cultural norms published in 2003). Somah is also the Executive Director of the Liberian History, Education & Development, Inc. (LIHEDE), a nonprofit organization based in Greensboro, North Carolina.
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I think this is a great idea. Liberia cannot develop in the same way the US and Europe did. We will need to use our ingenuity and our human capital to foster development which provide for our people without degrading our society or our environment. I would urge Liberians involved in the sciences and engineering as well as those in leadership positions in other fields to pay close attention to the new green processes for development and infrastructure which are being developed in the rest of the world. The era of dirty fossil fuels is coming to an end, if we don't begin to plan for that future Africa will once again be left behind developmentally.
GREAT!,Liberia of course is very suitable for sugarcane -ethanol production so successful in Brazil where all gas stations carry alcohol(ethanol) for ethanol or flexible-fuel cars and also all gas sold in Brazil contains 25% of ethanol safe for any gas engine,amounting more than half of fuel consumption in that country last year ,third year they did not have to import any oil,saving $billions.Now they started the biodiesel program mandating 2% in all dieselsold in the country,this is also very posible for Liberia ,an oil palm producer ,best source for biodiesel production,this last one has also a very good market in Europe,USA ,China and India Liberian goverment should encorage private investment in oil palm,sugarcane,sugarcane bagasse -electricity production and biofuels destilleries to speed up economic development ,look to what is doing for China,India and Brazil
I appreciate your comments and emails on this matter of ethanol production in Liberia. I have been a commercial real estate broker in New York City for nine years and currently a consultant for a fertilizer and petrochemical supplier from Russia. I've reached a point in life where I should start my own empire as they say.
My family owns a very large amount of land in Liberia - we own an entire village actually, which our people used to farm as they were known as rice farmers before the war. They have given me ownership control of all the land. The land is very arable, favorable farm land, not currently being used. I am planning to return with business plans for agriculture and aquaculture farming and any other cash crop potential for export / creating local jobs.
I am aware of the vast potential Liberia has. Unfortunately, Liberian mentality is lazy when it comes to big projects. They would rather have foreigners do the work and control their agricultural wealth / natural resources. I was born in Liberia as an American citizen and still retain my Liberian citizenship. I come from the Kpelle tribe originally, but you would never believe it if you met me. My intention is to use my village land as an example to all Liberians of the possibilities they have. We also have plenty of rubber trees, marijuana, cocoa on our lands, but they have not been maintained due to the war.
If any of you have contacts, technical capabilities or perhaps interested in the possibility of serious projects / discussions with me, I would appreciate any communication and or research help. I am one entrepreneurial individual with alot of determination and resources available.
I will be returning to Liberia April 2009 for the first time since 1979. My mission is to "lead by example" regarding the concept of agricultural trade / export, sustainable cash crop development.
I would appreciate any help, new business-minded friends and, or imput. Thank you.
Hi Since I left Liberia after serving with UNMIL in 2006 I have thougt about Liberia and how I can help futher it´s development. Ethanol production came to mind early but I do not have the resources and contacts to start a project. The base of my idea is the lion part profit of the company will stay in Liberia. By exporting part of the ethanol produced a program for refitting vehicles can be funded. The program aims to create more work and to transform the vehicle fleet to a localy produced fuel therby reduce Liberias need for expensive imported oil. I´m very keen on participating in a project like this.
I am working with several projects in South America with small farmers who are interested in ethanol production.
The situation is right in a place such as Liberia where people want to work and where the feedstocks is a price low enough to make it profitable to produce ethanol. It would be of interest to form a youth corps to start a sugarcane plantation for the poorer in Liberia so that they can make ethanol out of the sugarcane. Or, would the abandoned program left by the Chinese be available so that farmers and local people could form a cooperative to build an ethanol facility?
With the cost of gasoline at $5.00 per gallon, there is enough to be made with ethanol to make a handsome profit after paying the expenses. The feed stock in Liberia would be in the area of less then $1.00 per gallon. The expenses would range in the area of $.40 per gallon and the cap. ex.[distillery part] would be in t he range of $.20 per gallon for a total of$1.60 per gallon. Double that figure if I am off and that amounts to only $3.20 per gallon of ethanol. That would produce handsome profits to pay off an ethanol facility very quickly.