-To boost agriculture growth and economic sustainability
Liberia’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Dr. Emmanuel King Urey-Yarkpawolo has recognized fish farming as environmentally friendly and key to agriculture growth and economic sustainability in Liberia to address the issues of food security, and self-sufficiency.
The EPA also believes that fish farming is an agricultural activity when invested in can rapidly eliminate poverty and improve sustainable development in Liberia.
Speaking on behalf of the EPA Executive Director, Dr. Emmanuel King Urey-Yarkpawolo who is currently in the United States addressing a cross session of Liberian on the potential of business initiatives in Liberia, Mr. Timothy Yoko, Chief for Office Staff in the office of Dr. Yarkpawolo on the Occasion of Stakeholders Meeting focusing on Fish Farming in Liberia held over the weekend in Gbarnga, Bong County, encouraged farmer not just to make fish farms for subsistence but also for commercial gains.
According to him, in the age of global scarcity, nutritional inequalities, over-depletion of fish stock, and global warming with its associated poverty, the innovation and importance of fish farming cannot be overemphasized.
He further indicated that it is well established in the literature that eating fish is healthier than eating red meat, adding that fish farming has the potential to improve nutritional intake for all people, despite their economic status.
“On the national level, according to the OPEC Fund September 2022 report, fisheries account for 10 percent of agriculture production and 3 percent of Growth Domestic Product (GDP) in Liberia. This is why improving this sector is key to agriculture growth and sustainability in Liberia. If our country is to gain food security and self-sufficiency, the innovation of fishing farming will have to be part of it. This is why Agriculture is the first part of our President ARREST Agenda. I encourage you to continue this effort” Mr. Yoko urged.
The ex-Liberian Journalist further pointed out that production is a matter of scale and once fish farmers learn how to take care of a small fish pond, they can use that same idea to take care of larger fish farms.
We acknowledge your letter inviting the Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia to this beautiful program, which seeks to showcase the power of fish farming in Bong County. Thank you for the invitation. Our Executive Director Dr. Emmanuel K. Urey Yarkpawolo is currently away in the USA, where he has gone to speak to a cross-section of Bong County citizens in the diaspora and Liberians in general about the potential of sustainable business initiatives in Liberia. That is why he has sent me as his Chief of Office Staff who has a specific interest in fish farming, to represent him and deliver this message to you” he noted.
Mr. Yoko recommended to Liberians who are looking for jobs, especially college graduates with agriculture degrees, to get involved with fish farming because the future for this endeavor is bright as the government of Liberia is prioritizing self-sufficiency through agriculture productivity.
“Create yourself jobs and create jobs for others. You will not regret this decision. I have seen some of the work of the sustainable fish farming practices of this institution. The technique they use is simple, easy, and environmentally friendly. Sometimes the fish are farmed with rice. You harvest rice at the same time you harvest fish, giving you the farmer double benefits. We encourage you to take care of this opportunity” He said.
He commented that at the EPA will support fish farming efforts to get involved with the project , they can work with them to create renewable energy solutions for irrigation, cold storage and drying opportunities.
“Once again, thank you for inviting EPA, and together we can help the government to gain food security and at the same time create wealth for ourselves and reduce poverty. Recently a friend of my wife bought a cartoon of a chicken and realized that the chickens were rotten and was forced to throw them away. Is this familiar to many of you here, especially our women who go to the market to buy food? This is a usual phenomenon across Liberia. We depend too much on imported foods that are sometimes really bad for our consumption. You do not have to go far to see this. Visit the Gbarngacentral market and you will see all kinds of spoiled chicken and fish, which are super expensive” he concluded.
