In spite of LACs’ experience, James Philips, the Secretary of Agriculture was very anxious to increase Liberia’s rice production. He therefore contracted an Israeli land development company to develop mechanized upland rice production in the Foya area.

Due to the team’ reservations about the feasibility of this mechanized scheme, which concerns it had expressed in writing to the Secretary of Agriculture, the FAO team was not involved in any technical details of this scheme. However during a visit to Foya in February 1974, van Santen visited the mechanized upland farm operations and took some photos. The mechanized operations in Foya already covered a large area of several hundreds of hectares by early 1974. Land clearing was very roughly done, top-soil was carelessly removed in many locations and serious sheet erosion could already be observed at many spots in during the first planted rice crop, which crop was in general very poorly established.
 

Slideshow Foya rice scheme
 

The rural economy
Lofa County 1970's
A pictorial story

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