Last year, the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf government quietly crafted a far-fetching, comprehensive rice strategy document with the overall design of feeding its people. That strategy document outlines, amongst other things, increasing and doubling the production of the nation's staple – rice, over the next five years.

The government intends to, as signified in its strategy document, 'Liberia National Rice Development Strategies' (LNRDS) tackle the document's six main strategic components. They are: (i) Land and water management's plan. (ii) Increasing availability and accessibility of smallholder farmers to farm inputs, (iii) Enhancing post-harvest quality improvement, (iv) Increasing access to market, (v) Institutional capacity building, and (vi) Mechanization.

Through the implementation of the six main strategic components mentioned, the government is aiming to achieve increased rice productivity in both upland and lowland ecosystems and by expanding the land area under rice cultivation in the lowlands.

According to statistics, our annual rice consumption rate is something close to 465, 276 tons, at least that what the latest statistics showed in 2010.Our annual per capita consumption of rice (133 Kg per year) is the highest in Africa. The gap between the demand and local production is met through importation of rice from countries such as China and USA.

The seemingly large importation of rice adds pressure on the country's trade balance and its foreign exchange. Given the social and political significance of rice in Liberia, the government concedes, there is a strong need for increasing domestic rice production.

Experts have suggested and the government has now taken those suggestions under consideration that the opportunities for sustainable rice production and the profitability of growing rice are substantially higher in the lowlands than in the uplands. This means that more attention will be focused on swamp land farming than the uplands where trees and shrubs are burnt, destroying much of the soil nutrients before crops are even planted.

A Remote Monitoring Update system sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) predicts that “Good harvests, coupled with normal livelihood strategies, are enabling households to meet essential food and non-food needs. Households are expected to be food secure (IPC Phase 1) through at least June 2013. Rice production during the 2012/13 cropping season was slightly above-average. These good production levels, combined with the normal levels of rice imports, will be sufficient to meet Liberia's food needs during the 2012/13 consumption year. Imported rice prices will likely remain stable with little variation over the upcoming months.”

In southeastern counties of Grand Gedeh, River Gee, and Maryland, rice harvests ended in October and land preparation activities have been ongoing since November for the next upland rice and vegetables planting season, which starts in April. In other counties, rice harvests were completed in December and land preparation activities are ongoing at low levels.

 Liberia's national 2012/13 paddy rice production has been estimated at 298,178 MT, which is a 2.6 percent increase as compared to last year and 2.9 percent increase compared to the four-year average. These slightly above - average harvests, coupled with ongoing harvests of plantains (in central and southern Liberia) and other tubers (throughout the country), have contributed to normal food stock and crop income levels. In the southeast, food stocks from this season's harvests are expected to last a normal, five months, which means household food stocks will deplete in April/May.

In Lofa and parts of Bong counties, which are major rice producing areas of the country, markets are currently dominated by locally milled rice.

Meanwhile in the rest of the country, markets are currently well-supplied with rice imports, reduced market demand, due to households consuming their own food stocks, have caused imported rice prices to decline in December compared to November levels. These price decreases have ranged from 3percent in Monrovia and Voinjama to 15percent in Foya compared to last year's levels, imported rice prices in December remained to 14 percent lower this year.

Two exceptions are Pleebo and Buchanan where rice prices displayed a 23 and 41percent annual increase respectively given that the government of Liberia recently extended an executive order suspending import tariffs on rice, imported rice prices are expected to remain at normal and stable levels during this consumption year.