Liberia: Developing an Ethanol Industry for Energy Efficiency

Via
AllAfrica.com

The Analyst (Monrovia)
OPINION
By Syrulwa Somah, Phd

As the world is at a blink of energy crisis, Liberia should be proactive to plan for this unnecessary energy crisis quickly with one of her blessings (sugarcane) that can significantly reduce unemployment, deforestation, global warning and open up a huge Sub-Saharan African market for sugarcane growers. In this new Liberia, we ought to be ahead of our time and not slow walk or be like an "obstacle man", whom, regardless of what suggestion was advanced, his mind instantly harbored all possible obstacles in connection with it. Our nation will soon be facing a greater energy crisis that is likely to take away all our money so we must begin to dream and take action now to prevent a future energy crisis in Liberia. We should not go crawling through this pending energy crisis of your time on our hands and knees half-defeated. We are ought to stand up to it, that is all, and we must not give way under it until something breaks. And it won't be us, it will be the energy crisis.

I believe this project should use the strengths of Liberian culture and traditions to make Liberian reconstruction more manageable to its people. It should use available resources to mobilize local ex-combatants and give hope to the people and districts that the government cannot provide employment for now. I believe the project will spillover mainly to support local enterprises in the creation of jobs by training and establishing farmer-to-farmer programs and create dependency brigades at community levels to control hunger and violence in Liberia. Indeed, since poverty, unemployment, and the lack of food are some of the major causes of violence and military coups in Africa, it is imperative that sources of employment be provided for Liberian ex-combatants and other destitute and internally displaced Liberians with a structured environment such as the proposed sugarcane plantation for an ethanol project.

Complete Article