GREENVILLE, Sinoe – The National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority has entered an agreement with AfricaRice and the Ministry of Agriculture to implement an E.U. sponsored project focused on integrating rice and fish farmers to provide better nutrition for the public.
In a phone interview with The Bush Chicken on Thursday, NaFAA’s director of communications, Lewis Konoe, said the rice and fish farmers will benefit directly through access to research, innovations, and technologies that will improve the sustainability and productivity of their products.
“The project will be implemented in five counties in Liberia, which includes Grand Gedeh, Maryland, Gbarpolu, Margibi, and River Gee, and it will target 365 rural smallholder farmers,” Konoe explained.
According to Konoe, the overall goal of the project is to enhance the development of rice and fish value chains for improved food, nutrition, and economic security through targeted research and extension in Liberia. He said the project aims to transform high-risk traditional production systems into more climatic resilient and high-yielding ones.
“The entire project will last for a period of 36 months and it is put at €3.5 million (US$3.93 million) and 60 percent of targeted farmers will be women-inclusive householders or families to build on their roles as food producers and ensuring food and nutrition of their families,” Konoe told The Bush Chicken.
NaFAA and its partners say they plan to draw on the initial lessons learned from AfricaRice, WorldFish, and other similar organizations that have worked on sustainably increasing productivity in Liberia.
Featured photo by R. Raman/AfricaRice
