Liberia, Ebola, and Food Security
Food Security in Liberia: Ebola Worsens an Already Serious Food Scarcity Problem
This work has been produced by the following members:
Jake MacDonnell – Democracy Lab Researcher
Eighty-one percent of Liberia’s population is either highly vulnerable or moderately vulnerable to food insecurity, according to Liberian agricultural policy. In 2008, Liberia imported more than seventy percent of total food requirements, including seventy-five percent of its grain. Yet, dating back to 1990, thirty percent of the population has been undernourished, which has resulted in a high number of preschool children with stunted growth. Even though seventy-one percent of the farming families in Liberia grow rice, output comes nowhere close to satisfying national demand. The high number of food imports, combined with the level of poverty, has resulted in Liberia receiving a “serious” state of hunger rating, according to 2013 GHI data.
Food security in Liberia was further devastated by the outbreak of Ebola. The virus first spread in the productive agricultural regions of Kailahun and Kenema. A variety of factors, including farmer deaths and labor shortages meant that some crops were unharvested and rotted in the fields. As a result, the 2014 rice harvest was reduced by ten to twenty-five percent. The process of delivering imported food from the capital to rural areas became increasingly difficult as transportation was disrupted. To summarize, farmer deaths, labour shortages, reduced harvest yields, and transportation disruptions led to food shortages. In the face of overwhelming demand, food prices rose. Price increases for rice (30%) and cavassa (150%) have been identified in areas affected by Ebola. In addition, the Liberian government banned the consumption of bush meat, increasing pressure on food supplies.
A sharp increase in the price of a staple food disproportionately affects those living in poverty because these individuals spend a greater percentage of their income on food, between fifty to seventy percent. This becomes relevant to the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, as it caused an increase in the price of rice, a staple food. However, a survey conducted by the World Bank in December 2014 revealed that of the two-thirds of households that could not buy enough rice, eighty percent specified a lack of money as the main obstacle (instead of a lack of rice). This suggests that the food security problem in Liberia is mainly caused by economic reasons, rather than a physical scarcity of food. The general population, weakened by Ebola, can’t afford basic food supplies. In some cases, farmers are eating the stockpiled rice seeds that were going to be used to plant next season’s harvest.
There is no short-term solution to solve Liberia’s food insecurity problem. First, the Ebola virus must be stopped and eliminated so that the country can begin to rebuild. International aid, in the form of money and food, must be allocated quickly and efficiently in order to reduce the immediate impact and alleviate emergency conditions, especially in rural areas. However, Liberia must not become dependent on outside help. Trade and travel with other countries should remain as open as possible so the economic impact of Ebola can be minimized in the short-term.
If we assume that Ebola will be controlled and eliminated in under a year, we can begin to tackle Liberia’s food insecurity problem. There is a huge demand for investment in small-scale farms that will produce crops for domestic consumption. This will help to reduce the high demand for imported food, especially grain. As mentioned, about half of the households in Liberia cited a lack of money as the main obstacle toward purchasing food, not the physical availability of the food itself. Although the reduction of food imports will be beneficial, Liberia needs to channel foreign investment into its primary sector to take advantage of the country’s natural resource deposits. The quality of health care must also improve, probably through government expenditure on health care facilities. It is only by boosting its economy and raising the income and overall quality of life of its citizens that Liberia will be able to solve its food security problem. Otherwise, the general population will remain vulnerable to the price volatility of food and risk continuous entrapment in the cycle of poverty and malnutrition.
