By Emmanuel Mafelah, mafelahemmanuel29@gmail.com
GBARNGA, Liberia- The Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Central Agriculture Research (CARI) in Suakoko district, Liberia’s central Bong County, says all is being done to ensure that this premier institute is transformed despite the challenges couple with limited resources to function.
In August 2020, President George Manneh Weah named Dr. Victor Harry Sumo as Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI), following the resignation of Paulette E. Findley.
Dr. Victor Harry Sumo said his administration will implement CARI’s mandate of contributing to the productivity, commercialization and comparativeness of the agriculture sector through adaptive research and other activities.
“To be honest with you, my dream is to make CARI a better place so that people from other countries can be able to come to Liberia to get improve seeds and crops,” Dr. Sumo said.
“I want to ensure that the Central Agriculture Research Institute under my watch will in few years’ time produce technology to boost productivity in the agriculture sector of the country.”
The CARI Officer-In-Charge said,one major focus of his administration is to ensure CARI returns to its pre- war status by constructing Laboratories and getting equipment to do sound and applied research if we must help Liberian farmers maximize production.
He also disclosed plans by his administration to work with the Ministry of Agriculture and other partners to explore opportunities for some employees of the Institute to travel abroad for further education, with a vision to return and contribute to research works at the Institute.
“Once we are able to get the necessary support from the Ministry of Finance and Development planning, our Scientists will work with farmers and Cooperatives by building their capacities to ensure the benefit from their farms through improve method of farming,” Dr. Sumo explained.
“We are also seriously engaging our partners through project development for the Institute to get the needed support to enhance its work,” the CARI official added.
Employees of CARI have been commended for the level of support so far and the Institute’s OIC has assured that he will work with other members of the senior management team to improve the entity.
According to the Central Agriculture Research Institute Boss, he took over a broken entity from the then OIC Madam Paulete Findley.
As OIC, Dr. Sumo said under his watch, the administration have and continue to resolved claims and counter-claims among workers and at the same time contemplating on hosting national and international agriculture groups so as to provide technical skills to its employees instead of political power struggle.
He recounted that CARI is ready for business thereby calling on workers of entity to refrain from politics for the overall improvement of the research institute in central Liberia.
The multiple appearances of the institution personnel on community radio stations addressing their individual problems served as some of the undermining factors of CARI under the regime of then OIC Paulete Findley, he further said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Victor Sumo then committed his unflinching support to local farmers in Bong and the entire.