The Lagos State Government says it has trained 953 persons in aquaculture as a step towards upscaling fish production and to harness the economic opportunities in the agriculture value chain.
The Permanent Secretary, Dr Olayiwole Onasanya made the disclosure at the closing ceremony of the 15th Annual Executive Weekend Training on Investment Opportunities in Fish Farming organised by the ministry.
Onasanya said that such programmes and projects had significantly increased fish production, created jobs and stimulated economic activities in the state.
He identified the programmes and projects to include fish farm estates development; fish cage culture system; capacity building programmes, agricultural value chains empowerment and artisanal fisheries development among others.
“Fish is a major source of protein that is low in cholesterol compared with beef, hence, its consumption is healthy and the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends a per capita consumption of 17kg of fish per annum.
“Lagos State with a population of 22 million people is structured to have a fish demand of 374,000 tons per annum as against the current fish production figure of 155,262 tons per annum,” he said in a statement by Mr Jide Lawal, Assistant Director, Public Affairs of the state Ministry of Agriculture and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
“The deficit in supply is being met through importation which gulps enormous foreign exchange which the Federal Ministry of Agriculture has estimated at a total sum of one billion dollars.
“Very wide investment opportunities exist within the agricultural value chain both within the country and internationally, especially now that there is the need to increase export of non-oil commodities to earn foreign exchange for the financing of the nation’s economy.”
According to Onasanya, the four-day training is carefully structured to equip participants that include aspiring fish farmers and retiring executives both in the private and public sectors among others with relevant knowledge of best practices in aquaculture.
It is aimed at broadening their practical experience in fish juvenile and feed production as well as expose the participants to investment opportunities available in the fish farming, he said.
“The training programme has a special focus on the overview of fisheries development in Lagos State; Fish Culture System and Management, Water Quality Management and Disease Control.
“Prospect of Cage and Pen Culture System in Lagos State; Hatchery Management and Fingerlings Production and Fish Feed Formulation and Nutrition.
“Fish Farming Insurance and Fish Preservation, Processing, Packaging, Marketing and Export Potential,” he said.
The permanent secretary noted that the goal of the state was to be self-sufficient in fish production as he called for collaborative efforts between the private sector and government in the development of agricultural value-chain.
NAN reports that although 43 persons participated in the training, a total of 912 people had been trained so far since the programme started in 2005 bringing to total 955 beneficiaries.
NAN
