Could fish be a secret ingredient for rice farmers to avoid disease and make more money?
Environmental engineers in Senegal are experimenting with integrating tilapia fish into rice farming systems. The project aims to address food insecurity, poverty, and disease by creating a symbiotic agricultural environment.
Why it matters
Innovative agricultural practices like integrated rice-fish farming offer sustainable solutions to global food security challenges in developing regions.
Momy Seck Ndao has been planning for this day for months.
The environmental engineer is standing beside two swimming-pool sized ponds, each lined with a black tarp and full of hundreds of tilapia. Two of her colleagues trudge through the pond in waders, trying to corral the fish with a net.
"For this project, we need a lot of tilapia, about 1,900," says Ndao, as she eyes the horizon. They're in a race against the rising sun.
It's still relatively low but will soon heat this part of the Senegal River valley to about 100 F, hot enough to bake the fish on the way to their final destination — a rice field.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in