Senegal farmers boost rice yields and fight disease with fish
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Moussa Ndiaye, a farmer in Lampsar, Senegal, participated in a study that introduced Nile tilapia into his rice paddy.
Researchers are testing whether the fish can control schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease spread by snails common in rice fields, while also fertilizing the crops. Ndiaye and his sons have all experienced schistosomiasis, a disease prevalent in the lower Senegal River valley, a region bordering Mauritania, where fishing has been a way of life for generations under the ancient kingdom of Waalo-Waalo.
The study found that the fish consume the snails that carry the parasite causing schistosomiasis and their waste acts as fertilizer for the rice. Ndiaye recently harvested 20 sacks of rice from the test paddy, and the fish themselves can be caught and sold for profit. AfricaRice, a research center located near Saint-Louis in Senegal, plans to expand these trials to additional paddies. This approach represents a growing trend in science toward nature-based solutions that address multiple challenges simultaneously.
