COMMERCIAL FARMING
Commercial farming in any country is mainly practiced to meet the increasing demands of the growing population. The rapidly growing population in Africa and especially in Liberia is creating a gap for sufficient and quality food to meet its people. Moreover, the ever advancement in technology and civilization makes it easier to practice several commercial forms to feed the larger population rather than the small confined families. They only produced food for the members. In other words, commercial farming aims at feeding the entire population in the country rather than concentrating on the smaller sub-groups in the villages. Besides, the excess farm products can also be sold or exported to foreign nations, thus increasing their income.
One of the factors that make this ides; rice growing in Liberia is the increased demand for fast-growing food in the county. Rice is estimated to mature after 150 days regardless of the variety of the plant. This is approximately five months needed to feed the growing demand for rice in the country. As a primary food in the country, it is, therefore, suitable to meet the people’s needs in the country. It will also reduce the cost of importing the same product from the foreign market to feed the locals (“FAO GIEWS Country Brief on Liberia-,” 2020).
Secondly, understanding the population’s needs will determine when the product is made available in the market. For instance, since rice farming takes five months to mature and be ready for the market, I will consider making it ready a month before its increased demand. For the Liberians, the onset of seasonal rain in March. Thus, the paddy rice, which is the only universal food in the country, will be ready in September (“FAO GIEWS Country Brief on Liberia-,” 2020). Understanding this information will ensure the product is made available in the market and thus attracting more customers.
Another aspect of the idea is considering the excellent return on investment. This is how much the country will earn in return after investing in commercial rice plantations. One of the aspects the country will benefit from is increased production of its standard and most used product. Commercializing paddy rice in Liberia will ensure the production of enough food to meet its citizens’ demands and needs. More so, the country will reduce the rate and volume of importation of the same product from the foreign markets (“FAO GIEWS Country Brief on Liberia-,” 2020). Thus, farming activity will be conducted at suitable intervals to ensure regular and frequent rice products in the market. In this regard, the market will meet all the demands of its population.
Besides, meeting the market gap means having a constant and stable supply of the same commodity to meet its demands. Thus, commercial farming of rice in the country is therefore expected to meet the target population provided all the adequate measures have been followed.
However, the constant and stable production of paddy rice in the country is hindered by the increased prices of staple food due to inflation. It is stated that marketers supply the country with both local and imported rice products across the nation. Reports from the field depict that staple food prices in Liberia continue to increase in early 2020 (“FAO GIEWS Country Brief on Liberia-,” 2020). This is due to the following macro-economic factors, notably-weakening of the local currency, high inflation rate, and exchange rate liberalization in the country.
To ascertain the quality and feasibility of this idea, feedback from the clients in the market will be pivotal in establishing the product’s need. To capture this, the following prompts are provided to collect relevant data and information for the Liberian population. These include:
- What are your concerns about rice plantations in the country? Please explain your comment further.
- What factors might we consider to increase the quality or feasibility of this idea to the country?
- What is your average rate for the price of locally produced rice concerning the existing imported rice in the country?
- Do you think having locally produced rice will change or transform rice plantation and marketing in the country? If YES, kindly provide a rationale for this aspect.
- What aspects of the country need to be considered to ensure the success of the idea in the country?
- Finally, do you have any other concerns about the idea? If YES, kindly provide the concern.
The ideation process calls upon several aspects, both internal and external, to allow for the successful transformation of the phase of commercial rice farming in the country and ensure that the population is provided with the product they want for maximum satisfaction.