CARI Finance Director Completes First Field Visit, Commits to Lobbying for Greater Research Support
SUAKOKO, Liberia – The newly appointed Director of Finance and Administration at the Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI), Mr. William F. Kotee, Jr., has successfully concluded his first weeklong field visit to CARI’s research sites.
The visit provided the Director of Finance and Administration with firsthand exposure to ongoing programs, the challenges faced by researchers, and the growth opportunities. It also reinforced his commitment to lobby for increased budgetary support to strengthen agricultural innovation and ensure that CARI fulfills its mandate as Liberia’s premier agricultural research institution.
Mr. Kotee began his tour at the Rice Unit in the Crop Program, where he held discussions with Dr. James S. Dolo, Head of the Crop Program. Dr. Dolo outlined the unit’s mandate and highlighted ongoing research activities, including advanced mutation breeding trials in collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The trials aimed at developing rice varieties with shorter maturity periods, improved tolerance to pests, diseases, and climate stresses, and greater potential to enhance national food security.
Joseph Ndebeh. Research Officer and Breeder, named Orylux-6, CY-2, V-4, IR841 and Nerica-L19, for production in the lowland, with Suakoko-8, Nerica-L19 and Arica as materials for mutation breeding.
Dr. Quaqua Mulbah, Deputy Director General for Research, further briefed Mr. Kotee on the Korean-African Food and Agriculture Cooperation Initiative (KAFACI), which introduced more than 20 rice lines to CARI in 2024 for trials and multiplication. He explained that LAC-23, Gaza-189 and Isriz-11 are being purified upland for possible hybridization, with an emphasis on reducing the maturity period of LAC-23.
The visit also extended to the Tree Crop Unit, where Research Officer Denise Karway showcased ongoing work with Coffee Robusta and Coffee Liberica. She explained that Coffee Liberica, unique to Liberia and once nearly extinct, is now being revived in nurseries. To date, more than 267,000 coffee seedlings have been distributed to extension officers and farmers in Bong, Lofa, Nimba, and Montserrado counties, with an additional 32,104 seedlings delivered to Bong, Lofa, and Bomi counties.
At the Post-Harvest and Food Processing Program, Mrs. Cecilia Amis M. Nah reported that critical equipment, including the hammer mill and generator, is currently nonfunctional due to a lack of spare parts and servicing. These machines, installed under former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s 100‑day deliverables, were designed to transform cassava into flour and gari, strengthening food security and market development.
The Aquaculture, Livestock, and Inland Fishery Program, led by Dr. Mandela K. Hinneh, highlighted progress under the WorldFish Project, including the supply of 28,000 catfish fingerlings and 24,000 Gift Tilapia fingerlings to farmers. Of the 12 newly constructed ponds, six are concrete tanks, with breeding efforts targeting over 3 million fingerlings by year’s end.
Additionally, the visit took Mr. Kotee to the piggery, goat Hilton, cassava and vegetable fields, mechanization hub, warehouses, and the biotechnology plantain research field, etc.
Across all seven thematic programs and 14 units, researchers expressed both concern and optimism, underscoring the urgent need for adequate budgetary allocations to sustain and expand CARI’s work. The Director of Finance and Administration carried out a physical verification and operational assessment of the Cocoa Seed Garden in Beeplay, Nimba County.
During the visit to Beeplay, Nimba County, Mr. Kotee assured staff that their inputs would inform his advocacy with national stakeholders, including the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, to secure stronger financial support for agricultural research.
