Post by Ismail AbdulAzeez on May 21, 2018 15:11:51 GMT 1
AQUACULTURE CAN SAVE NIGERIA OVER $500M THROUGH LOCAL FISH PRODUCTION
Aquaculture companies across the country have expressed its capacity to produce fish locally to meet up with the local demands, thereby saving the country some of the money spent on fish importation.
The companies which in the past were importing fish into the country, said in few years to come, it will train local farmers and expand the county's production capacity to be able to produce and satisfy local demands.
Many of the fish farmers disclosed this during their working visit to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Abuja.
According to the farmers, “We have assured the government that in few years, we will be producing what we have been importing in the past and we will be saving the government more than $500million.”
The farmers claimed that their members exist in all the states of the federation, currently have over 50, 000 fish farmers in Nigeria.
one of the farmers, Samtani also said that his farm is targeting to create 3000 jobs in the fish sub-sector, as he is also planning to increase its production capacity to 70,000 metric tonnes in the next five years.
Speaking on forex conservation, the CEO said his farm was targeting to save $85 million annually for Nigeria through expanding its production locally.
In his response, a director from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said there is need to train youths and women in fish production.
He regretted that Nigeria spends about $700 million annually importing fish, while there are resources to produce locally.
He, however, revealed that the Ministry have acquired a 100 hectares of land to build training centres for farmers in different agricultural value chains.
Aquaculture companies across the country have expressed its capacity to produce fish locally to meet up with the local demands, thereby saving the country some of the money spent on fish importation.
The companies which in the past were importing fish into the country, said in few years to come, it will train local farmers and expand the county's production capacity to be able to produce and satisfy local demands.
Many of the fish farmers disclosed this during their working visit to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Abuja.
According to the farmers, “We have assured the government that in few years, we will be producing what we have been importing in the past and we will be saving the government more than $500million.”
The farmers claimed that their members exist in all the states of the federation, currently have over 50, 000 fish farmers in Nigeria.
one of the farmers, Samtani also said that his farm is targeting to create 3000 jobs in the fish sub-sector, as he is also planning to increase its production capacity to 70,000 metric tonnes in the next five years.
Speaking on forex conservation, the CEO said his farm was targeting to save $85 million annually for Nigeria through expanding its production locally.
In his response, a director from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said there is need to train youths and women in fish production.
He regretted that Nigeria spends about $700 million annually importing fish, while there are resources to produce locally.
He, however, revealed that the Ministry have acquired a 100 hectares of land to build training centres for farmers in different agricultural value chains.
