Advances In Rice Biotechnology In The New Millenium
Information Systems for BiotechnologyISB News Report July 2005
Shavindra Bajaj and Amitabh Mohanty

The riots of April 14, 1979 will forever be etched in the history of Liberia as a time when businesses were looted, scores wounded and a few killed over the increase in the price of rice. Daily Observer Editor-in-Chief, Rodney D. Sieh explains why the West African nation's staple food has been the source of many of its troubles and why in particular, things may never be the same.

Until that fateful day in 1979, Liberia was enjoying the kind of stability only few could boast of in Africa. But an increase in the price of rice changed it all,  for the worse. It was two days shy of one year later: April 12 1980.  Samuel Doe,  a 29-year-old master sergeant led 17 non-commissioned officers in a bloody coup d'etat that led to the overthrow of President William R. Tolbert. Doe went on to execute Tolbert and most of his high-ranking government officials, sweeping out any remnants of the old government and ushering Liberia's first dictator.

Prior to the riots of '79, the country enjoyed a brief spell as the most stable country in Sub-Sahara Africa, according to the Guinness Book of World Record of 1978. What went wrong? How did something so good turn so bad, in the blink of an eye? 

Perhaps the answer lies in a report released in Monrovia Saturday that suggests that high-level government officials are conniving with "unscrupulous businessmen" to raise the price of rice and rain more suffering on the Liberian people.

The Chairman of the Special Rice Committee recently set up by Transitional Chairman Charles Gyude Bryant to investigate circumstances surrounding the constant increase in the price of the commodity; Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf concluded in her report that one of the major causes is the failure of past governments to halt the monopoly on its importation.

Mrs. Sirleaf told a news conference Saturday that government officials are greatly involved in soliciting and taking bribes from importers. She called on government to dismiss officials found in such malpractices especially with the issue of rice.

Mrs. Sirleaf warned that if the Commerce Ministry, whose mandate in keeping with law, is to regulate prices fails to do its job, it should bear the responsibility.

Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the Rice Report was the disclosure that two major importers of the commodity, the Lebanese-owned businesses  Bridgeway and K & K Corporations, are indebted to government to the tone of US$3.5 million in taxes which she said has been waived to them. 

Lebanese traders have been in the country for several generations. Many of them have made a name for themselves over the years as the bearers of "good businesses," who for years have steered the course of livelihood in Liberia with their trademark inflation.

To the detriment of a lot of Liberians, these businesses have inflated  prices and embedded with Liberian leaders, but never once using any of the income generated from Liberians' sweat for domestic investment. Choosing instead, to send all of their profits back home to Lebanon or to sweat in foreign banks.

The history of Rice has gone hand-in-hand with Liberia's ties to Lebanese businessmen. In 1963, President William V.S. Tubman launched Operation Production as the benchmark for his famed “ Open Door Policy. ” The program was geared toward making Liberia self-sufficient in rice production.

Furthermore, the policy sought grow as much rice as the country consumed, the government's promotional campaign also stressed reliance on private initiative and the efficacy of self-help and hard work. Operation Production underscored the economy's commitment to free enterprise. Tubman hammered away at these themes for some time, visiting locations across the country to promote the idea .

Forty years later, Liberian merchants have still not risen to the level of the Lebanese. They have instead grown to become more reliant on them for virtually everything they eat, drink or breed.

In 2003, the United Nations reported that Liberia’s seed stocks had been so depleted by 14 years of civil war that only one in four farmers have access to rice seeds for next year’s season, prompting a United Nations food agency appeal to redress the problem. As a result, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)  appealed to  donors to provide $2 million to ensure that 70,000 families in Liberia receive 700 tons of rice seeds. Rice, along with cassava, is a staple crop of the West African country.

The Lebanese merchants are renowned for using people of influence to their advantage. They successfully embedded themselves within the Tubman, Tolbert, Doe and Taylor administrations, and are now seemingly on course, or have already become bedfellows with the Gyude Bryant regime.

Upon assuming the chairmanship of the National Transitional Legislative Assembly, Mr. Bryant pledged to do all he could to bring the price of rice down or at least control the rapid inflation.

To date, the price is at an all-time high. The country's staple food, rice, which can feed an average–sized family for a month, costs about $40 to $45 USD, more than the whole monthly salary of many civil servants.


Perhaps Liberians have themselves to blame for becoming more reliant and less self-sufficient. But while getting Liberians to replace or match Lebanese businesses won't be easy, it should be a new challenge for all Liberians.

A good place to start would be with the education of our youths in the art of moneymaking. Some 80 percent of our people are illiterate thanks in part to fourteen years of civil war.

The sad part about the whole ordeal in Liberia is that the price of rice has never reduced. It has instead, continued to swell, wreaking more havoc along the way and continuing to be a thorn in Liberians side. Whether this trend continues may depend on how much the people Liberians called their leaders are willing to sacrifice: The fancy cars, the armored trucks and the many other material gains that come with the power they possess. Liberians have spoken, lets hope for once, their leaders are listening.