Two technicians representing the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority (NaFAA) and ten fish farmers selected from the private sector will depart Liberia for Accra, Ghana tomorrow to attend a two-month practical training in Tilapia cage farming.
The initiative is being sponsored by the World Bank.
A NaFAA press release quotes the Director General of NaFAA as saying that the training is hands-on capacity building for fish farmers, extension workers, researchers in tilapia hatchery management and grow out techniques in aquaculture production systems (Cages and Pond Systems).
Madam Emma Metieh Glassco said the aquaculture tailored training is designed to meet the needs of private sector actors through the transfer of basis on farm management knowledge aimed at enhancing productivity.
Madam Glassco furthered that the training will also help cultivate skills and a needed labor force to stimulate the development of aquaculture in Liberia.
According to her, the purpose of the training is to strengthen the capacity of the trainees in farm data collection and further enhance the technical capacity of the trainees to enable them become master trainers.
Some of the individuals selected for the training are from Bong and Nimba while others are from two coastal counties including Margibi and Montserrado.
Fish can be stocked at higher density in cages in lakes, rivers and other larger water bodies thus increasing production.
Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and other countries in the region are experiencing exponential growth in the aquaculture industry in recent years through the introduction of cage farming.
Following the return of the trainees from the two moths training, each farmer will be provided a cage to jump start the pilot cage farming, therefore it is envisaged that the trainees will be organized into cooperatives for the sustainability of the initiative.
