Liberia: A Charade or a Pie in the Sky - the Promised Food Support and How Liberians Stand a Risk of Food Insecurity

opinion

It is becoming clear that the food support which was promised Liberians over a month ago seems like yet another pie in the sky. Liberians' hope of receiving rice, the country staple, from the government is left in despondency amidst the threat of a food shortage being posed by the disruption in supply chain and agricultural activities around the world which is alarming especially for net food importing nation like Liberia. This means that while we're faced with a public health and economic crises, we stand a great chance of experiencing food crisis well before everyone else. Now, people shouldn't just be concerned about Covid-19 as a health threat but they should also consider malnutrition and starvation that might arise from lack of food supply or inability to acquire the little that is available.

For too long ago, the agricultural sector hasn't received the much-required attention from government to ensure that Liberians grow what they eat. Today, most of what we eat including rice, unprocessed vegetables and fruits are imported from elsewhere. Undoubtedly, this is one reason for our deteriorating current account deficit that has lasted for more than a decade. If the government should do one thing, it should be providing massive agricultural support to farmers to ensure food security without worrying of retaliation from any WTO members since being a net food importing country allows for such under the Agreement on Agriculture.

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