By Bethan E.K Tano
As part of contributing to food sufficiency in Liberia, Deputy House Speaker and senatorial hopeful Prince Moye has begun harvesting his rice farm in Bong county.
The Liberian lawmaker has cultivated several hectares of farmland in his home county with rice and other farm which started since 2018.
Rep. Moye told Liberia Public Radio correspondent that rice produce from his farms will be bagged and sold for reasonable price on the local market.
The lawmaker has cultivated several hactares of land in Mano Wainsue, Jorquelleh District #2 with the employment of several youths and women on a long and short term basics.
Representative Moye told journalists that yield from his rice farm are now enough to be placed on the market for consumption as his way of contributing towards food security of Liberia.
Representative Moye farm currently has over 550 bags of rice in warehouse ready for distribution into the local market and more production is expected during the next harvest season.
Deputy speaker Prince K. Moye is among few Liberian politicians that owned farms that aim to alleviate hunger and reduce rice importation in Liberia.
Food insecurity
A 2015 emergency food security assessment found that food insecurity affects 16 percent of households, including 2 percent that are severely food insecure. For one fourth of Liberian families, food accounts for more than 65 percent of their total expenditures.
There have been calls for international donors that in order to reduce huge rice importation, Liberians should begin local food production.
The country currently spends more than 400 million United States Dollars on food importation due to the lack of local production. In 2017 alone, Liberia spent US$480 million on rice importation.
