Liberia: EU, AfricaRice Director General Tour Desira Project Site

14 December 2020. The Director-General of the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), Harold Roy-Macauley has completed a visit at the European Union's funded integrated rice and fish farming project under the Development of Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture (DeSIRA) at the Central Agriculture Research Institute (CARI) in Suakoko, Bong County.

Mr. Roy-Macauley, who was recently on a four-day visit to Liberia from the Center's headquarters in Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire, took stock of progress that is being made and lauded the technicians for the high level of work that has been done thus far.

The DG's visit was followed by a high profile delegation from the European Union office in Liberia that also toured the field to ascertain how their funds are being utilized.

Both delegations were led on their respective tours by AfricaRice Country Representative, Dr. Innousa Akintayo and experts who are working on the project. He toured the fields of the project, which seeks to develop integrated, climate-smart rice-fish production systems sustainably and balance interventions on participatory research on rice-fish farming, development of successful extension service delivery systems.

Dr. Roy-Macualey, the members of the EU delegation, was ferried to the "floating cage," an innovative technological fish pond that that has the capacity to host 40,000 fish in a safe, secure, and eco-friendly environment on a lake at the CARI center. A facially impressed Dr. Macaulay bombarded experts with questions as he tried to get a better understanding of the initiative and how it would impact the Liberian society, especially in the area of nutrition and food security.

Locally fabricated machines as well as locally made feeds for the fishes were also showcased during the tour.