AfricaRice Appoints New Country Representative to Liberia

^{AfricaRice’s new Country Representative to Liberia, Mr. Moustapha Gaye. (Photo Credit: George A. Harris, AfricaRice)} 

Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), a pan-African Center of Excellence for rice research, development and capacity building, has appointed Mr. Moustapha Gaye as new Country Representative to Liberia and Coordinator of the EU-funded Seeds4Liberia Project, led by AfricaRice.  

Mr. Gaye comes to the position with over 30 years of international development experience, eighteen of which have been in Chief of Party roles and two as Project Manager for large US government-funded programs totaling more than $200 million. He is also experienced in food security, health and nutrition, good governance, community engagement, gender integration, private sector engagement, monitoring and evaluation and learning, financial management, and environmental compliance. Projects Mr. Gaye has managed have seen improvements in livelihoods and program compliance and have promoted strong relationships with a wide range of stakeholders in nine countries in West and Central Africa. 

Gaye will continue to steer the affairs of AfricaRice in Liberia, aligning initiatives with national priorities while strengthening partnerships and mobilizing a consortium of partners to drive impactful endeavors in Liberia.

^{Mr. Moustapha Gaye during a Seeds4Liberia project meeting. (Photo Credit: George A. Harris, AfricaRice)}  

The appointment of the new Country Representative came after a farewell send-off for Dr. Inoussa Akintayo, who has retired. In his role, Dr. Akintayo sustained the institution’s commitment to national development agenda, particularly through agricultural research and development to improve productivity and livelihoods in Liberia. Akintayo is remembered for his role in introducing the Orylux 6, Suakoko-8,  Nerica L-19, and the Smart-Valley approach to Liberia.

Also, the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP), the Smallholder Agricultural Productivity Enhancement and Commercialization (SAPEC), the EU-funded DeSIRA Integrated Rice-Fish Farming System, and the current EU-backed Seeds4Liberia project led by AfricaRice are signature projects that Dr. Akintayo steered in his capacity as AfricaRice Country Representative to Liberia. These projects promoted agricultural research and development, human capacity strengthening, and policy advocacy for sustainable agricultural development, including value chain resilience.