RIGHTS and the CIVIL WAR in LIBERIA by Janet Fleischman
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VOLUME XIX 1994 NUMBER 2 LIBERIAN STUDIES JOURNAL 1 I 10°W 8°W LIBERIA -8°N 8 °N- MONSERRADO MARGIBI -6 °N RIVER / 6 °N- MARYLAND Geography Department 10 °W 8 °W University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown I 1 Published by THE LIBERIAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION, INC. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor LIBERIAN STUDIES JOURNAL Editorial Policy The Liberian Studies Journal is dedicated to the publication of original research on social, political, economic and other issues about Liberia or with implications for Liberia. Opinions of contributors to the journal do not necessarily reflect the policy of the organizations they represent or the Liberian Studies Association, publishers of the Journal. Manuscript Requirements Manuscripts submitted for publication should not exceed 25 typewritten double - spaced pages, with margins of one -and -a -half inches. The page limit includes graphs, references, tables, and appendices. Authors may, in addition to their manuscripts, submit a computer disk of their work with information about the word processing program used, i.e. WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, etc. Notes and references should be placed at the end of the text with headings (e.g. Notes; References). Notes, if any, should precede the references. The Journal is pub- lished in June and December. Deadline for submission for the first issue is February, and for the second, August. Manuscripts should include a title page that provides the title of the text, author's name, address, phone number, and affiliation. All research work will be reviewed by anonymous referees. Manuscripts are accepted in English or French. Manuscripts must conform to the editorial style of the latest edition ofA Manual of Style (University of Chicago Press). All manuscripts submitted for consideration should be mailed to: D. Elwood Dunn, Editor Liberian Studies Journal Department of Political Science The University of the South Sewanee, TN 37383-1000 All book reviews should be mailed to: Alfred B. Konuwa, Book Review Editor Liberian Studies Journal Business and Economics Department Butte College 3536 Butte Campus Drive Oroville, CA 95965 Cover map: compiled by William Kory, cartography work by Jodie Molnar; Geography Department, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor VOLUME XIX 1994 NUMBER 2 LIBERIAN STUDIES JOURNAL Editor D. Elwood Dunn The University of the South Associate Editor Similih M. Cordor Florida Community College Book Review Editor Alfred B. Konuwa Butte College EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Bertha B. Azango Lawrence B. Breitborde University of Liberia Beloit College Christopher Clapham Warren L. d'Azevedo Lancaster University University of Nevada Reno Henrique F. Tokpa Thomas E. Hayden Cuttington University College Society of African Missions Svend E. Holsoe Corann Okorodudu University of Delaware Rowan College of New Jersey Edited at the Department of Political Science, The University of the South The Editors and Advisory Board gratefully acknowledge the contributions of The University of the South (particularly the Office of Print Services Staff) in the production of the Journal. PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor CONTENTS MACROECONOMIC POLICIES AND AGRICULTURAL PERFORMANCE IN LIBERIA: 1980 -90 by J. Chris Toe .................................................... ............................... 137 HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE CIVIL WAR IN LIBERIA by Janet Fleischman .......................................... ............................... 173 SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN LIBERIA: A REVIEW by James S. Guseh ............................................. .....................:......... 183 PHANTOMS OF THE HINTERLAND: THE "MANDINGO" PRESENCE IN EARLY LIBERIAN ACCOUNTS by Warren L. d' Azevedo ................................. ............................... 197 A HALF CENTURY OF AMERICO- LIBERIAN CHRISTIANITY, WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON METHODISM 1822 -1872 by Thomas C. Hendrix ...................................... ............................... 243 BOOK REVIEWS Andrews, G. Henry, Cry, Liberia, Cry! by Momo J. Rogers, Sr. 275 Gifford, Paul, Chrstianity and Politics in Doe's Liberia by Herman B. Browne .............................. ............................... 278 Gifford, Paul, Chrstianity and Politics in Doe's Liberia by R. Drew Smith ...................................... ............................... 283 Kulah, Arthur F., Theological Education in Liberia: Problems and Opportunities by Theodora Nmade Brooks ................... ............................... 286 Walters, Joseph J., Guanya Pau: A Story of an African Princess by C. William Allen .................................. ............................... 289 RECENT PUBLICATIONS AND THESES ............ ............................... 293 NEWS AND NOTES ................................................. ............................... 294 DOCUMENT ............................... 312 CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE ......................... ............................... 360 INDEX ............................... 361 A referee journal that emphasizes the social sciences and humanities, the LIBERIAN STUDIES JOURNAL is a semiannual publication devoted to studies of Africa's oldest republic. The annual subscription rate is $30.00, $15.00 for students and $45.00 for institutions, and includes membership in the Liberian Studies Association, Inc. All manuscripts and related matters should be addressed to The Editor, Liberian Studies Journal, Department of Political Science, The University of the South, 735 University Avenue, Sewanee, TN 37383 -1000. Subscriptions and other business matters should be directed to The Executive Secretary, Liberian Studies Association, Albany State College, P.O. Box 9220, Albany, Georgia 31705 -2791. Copyright 1994 by the Liberian Studies Association, Inc. ISSN 0024 1989 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor Macroeconomic Policies and Agricultural Performance in Liberia: 1980 -90 J. Chris Toe Introduction Sub -Saharan Africa is perhaps the only region in the world to have emerged worse -off at the end of the 1980s than it was at the beginning of the decade. Most of the subcontinent's economies experienced weak agricultural growth, de- creased industrial production, poor export performance, rising debt, and retro- gressed social services, institutions and ecology (World Bank, 1989; p.2). Ineffec- tive domestic policies, adverse external developments, and reluctance in adopt- ing comprehensive programs of economic adjustment were instrumental in undermining agriculture and other productive sectors. Liberia was no exception to these difficulties. Severe macroeconomic prob- lems were encountered due to government's incapacity for reversing failed policies of the past, the continued pursuit of expansionary internal economic policies and an acquiescent external strategy. These stances resulted in unsustainable fiscal expenditures, uncontrolled monetary expansion, declining international demand for primary exports and diminished access to overseas sources of finance. These developments reinforced pre -existing structural im- pediments and poor microeconomic policies in eliciting sluggish growth in agriculture and contraction in industry and services (Figure 1).1 The resulting confluence of falling per capita GNP and eroding social sector performance relegated the country to a low- income status, ranked 131 among 160 nations on the UNDP's 1992 Human Development index (UNDP, 1992; p.128). This study evaluates the macroeconomic environment for agriculture in Liberia in the 1980s. It reviews the structure and performance of agriculture within the context of economy -wide events and related government policy responses and discusses the impacts of fiscal, monetary and exchange rate, trade, and external aid policies on agricultural performance. Lessons derived from this evaluation are synthesized and used, in the concluding assessment, as the foundation for a suggested policy framework linking macroeconomic stability and agricultural restructuring. Data Over the last 35 years, many developing countries expended vast amounts of resources for the collection, collation, analysis and dissemination of economic and social statistics. In Liberia, the building and maintenance of the kinds of databases that could facilitate the evaluation of national and sectoral economic Liberian Studies Journal, XIX, 2 (1994) 137 PDF compression, OCR, web optimization using a watermarked evaluation copy of CVISION PDFCompressor 138 J. CHRIS TOE performance were not accorded the requisite budgetary priority. The resulting paucity of data and gaps in national and international series did not, however, restrict the achievement of this investigation's objectives. The three sets of data sources accordingly utilized in this study were: 1) Participant observation which is based on the author's knowledge of the process through which macroeconomic and agricultural policies were formulated and implemented during the period under consideration; 2) The Ministry of Agri- culture (Monrovia, Liberia), Draft Green Revolution Action Plan, Volumes I and II. 1989 for foreign assistance and government expenditure flows to agriculture; and 3) World Bank, World Development Report. 1986 -1992; World Tables. 1992; Government Finance Statistics Yearbook. 1991; United Nations Development