By Festus Poquie
Lobbying firms, which President Joseph Boakai’s government have engaged are working to identify actors who manipulate Liberia’s rice market.
Officials hope this step will improve food security and reform the country’s import and distribution systems.
Despite US foreign aid freeze, Liberian authorities contracted three U.S. firms — JNC Capital Inc., Fattah Capital Advisory LLC and Blackwood, paying more than $1 million in fees to help secure agricultural aid from the in-Trump administration and to design reforms for the rice sector.
In a terms-of-reference document reviewed by the Oracle News Daily, the group outlined plans to engage senior U.S. policymakers, including members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and relevant House subcommittees on Africa, global health and human rights.
“The rice sector in Liberia has long been controlled by unscrupulous actors, both local and foreign, resulting in price manipulation and distribution bottlenecks,” the document says.
The consultants said they will advise on comprehensive reforms to the country’s rice import and distribution networks, help identify key actors involved in market manipulation, and support development of legal frameworks to counter corrupt structures.
Their work will also seek to strengthen partnerships with U.S. agencies to secure technical support and expertise. They measure the consultants say are needed to build more transparent and efficient systems.
The firms did not specify what enforcement measures or sanctions might be recommended for those allegedly involved in manipulating the market. Nor did the document outline a detailed timeline for any administrative actions.
Liberia’s rice market has long been described as oligopolistic, dominated by a small number of powerful importers.
Critics allege that some foreign importers, with the complicity of officials, have entrenched advantages that squeeze out competitors and secure outsized profits from a multimillion-dollar market.
Liberia, with a population of about 5.5 million, faces widespread food insecurity: roughly half of the population is estimated to be food insecure and child malnutrition remains acute.
Domestic rice production meets only about one-third of national demand; the remaining two-thirds is supplied by imports.
Rice is central to the Liberian diet and economy. It accounts for more than 20 percent of total food consumption, provides nearly half of adult caloric intake in many households, and represents about 15 percent of typical household expenditures.
As a result, global or regional price shocks translate quickly into hardship for ordinary Liberians.
Food assistance and imported rice have long played roles in Liberia’s history. Settlers in the 1800s relied on aid from the American Colonization Society; rice shortages and price spikes in 1979 contributed to unrest that helped topple the ruling order in 1980. Subsequent governments have also accepted food aid from foreign partners — including Taiwan, Japan and, more recently, China — while seeking broader international assistance to stabilize supplies.
Observers say the lobbying effort could help unlock aid and policy attention in Washington, but they caution that durable improvements will require stronger domestic institutions, transparent procurement processes and enforcement of anti-corruption measures.
