The Acting World Bank Country Manager to Liberia, Mack Capehart Mulbah, says the launch of the 4th Edition of the Liberia Economic Update is critical for lightening the country's path to shared prosperity and poverty alleviation.
Speaking Tuesday, July 18, in Monrovia during the launch of the update titled "Getting Rice Right for Productivity and Poverty Alleviation",
Mr. Mulbah said the World Bank considers the exercise very important, considering its highlight on Liberia's staple, rice, and the impact it has on the Liberian economy and people's lives and livelihoods.
He explained that the Government of Liberia and its partners have invested and are still investing a significant amount of resources to enhance productivity in the agricultural sector, with a focus on value chain for rice.
He said nonetheless, local rice farmers continue to be less competitive due to stark price difference between locally grown and imported varieties of rice - birthed by the many supply-side constraints faced in the rice sector and households' preference for imported rice.
The World Bank Acting Manager recalled that recently, to limit the effect of rising global food prices on households, the government began to subsidize rice imports to ensure availability and affordability of the commodity.
According to him, this action amplifies the importance of rice in Liberia, adding that it also signals a call to action to enhance productivity in the sector.
However, Mr. Mulbah said rice accounts for a significant share of households' diets and budgets in Liberia, adding that significant share of the country's rice needs is met through imports.
He explained that this year's edition of the economic update endeavors to shed light on the rice economy in Liberia considering the demand, supply, and price dynamic of the commodity, and implications for productivity and poverty alleviation, adding that it delves into factors constraining productivity in agriculture broadly, and the rice sector and offers a broad direction for policies.
Central Bank of Liberia Deputy Governor for Economic Policy, Dr. Musa Dukuly, thanked the World Bank for the launch and called for its unwavering support.
He noted that the world has witnessed the design of a new global development agenda (the sustainable development goals) and so there is a global mandate for each country to not only adopt these goals but to fully implement and ensure that the desired results are attained.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
However, he explained that Liberia's development and sustenance are constrained by existence of dynamics of rising population and supply chain constraints, and subsidies will always fall short of the required estimated subsidy to completely eradicate food insecurity, wondering at what point should there be a halt.
Dr. Dukuly said moving towards food sustainability requires enormous sacrifice and questions that are confronting policymakers on how to develop a more sustainable strategy toward food sustainability, as they rethink a matching strategy.
"For instance, if the subsidy is 20 million, we invest 10 million in direct rice production and allocate 10 million as subsidy or 5 million in rice production and 15 million in subsidy. But there is no direct fix to this problem. A combination of temporary and untargeted measures should be pursued gradually in response to the food challenges", he suggests.
According to the report, growth in the agricultural sector accelerated to 5.9 percent in 2022 from 3.3 percent in 2021, with increased crop production, especially rice and cassava primarily for domestic consumption as main driver of growth in the agriculture sector.
Liberia's economy expanded by 4.8 percent in 2022 despite global headwinds from the war in Ukraine, high global inflation, and depressed demand in advanced economies.
Tuesday's launch was attended by Mack Capehart Mulbah, Acting World Bank Country Manager; Minister of Agriculture, Jeanine M. Cooper; Deputy Minister of Finance for Budget and Development Planning, Tanneh Brunson; Deputy Governor for Economic Policy, Central Bank of Liberia, Dr. Musa Dukuly; panelists, and development and partners.
