Stakeholders in the agriculture sector on Wednesday called for a total ban on importation of fish and its products into Nigeria so as to boost the country’s fishing industry.
The stakeholders made the call in Ibadan at an awareness campaign on a project tagged “Proposed Fish Industrial Estate for Youth in Agriculture Empowerment Programme’’.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the project was instituted by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with the Oyo State chapter of Amalgamated Association of Fish Farmers of Nigeria.
Other partners in the project include Eurobase Consult Limited, FEG-AGRO Farms Nigeria Ltd. and Oyo State chapter of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), among others.
The conveners underscored the need for the improvement of the packaging of the local fish products to meet international standards.
They also emphasised the need for the production of quality fish feeds, using readily available resources so as to boost local fish production and reduce fish feed prices.
Besides, they said that the certification of fish farms and similar enterprises by the Federal Department of Fishery, NAFDAC and SON should be encouraged.
The Chairman of FEG-AGRO Farms, Dr Gabriel Ogunsanya, said that the Fish Industrial Estate System (FIES) would be developed in Ekiti, Kwara, Kogi, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo states.
He said that each state would have one fish industrial estate system which was designed to culture, produce and process 120 tonnes of fish daily, thereby generating 43,800 tonnes of fish annually.
Ogunsanya said that the project would reduce the high incidence of rural poverty and unemployment in the country.
He said that it would boost the people’s access to quality protein, trace elements, minerals found in fish to reduce high level of preventable illnesses and deaths.
“The project targets youths in agriculture and each participant is expected to perform four production cycles, with each production cycle spanning six months.
“Each participant has a contractual period of 24 months in production and is expected to produce between 20,000 and 24,000 fishes per production cycle.
“A consultant and extension officers will be stationed at each industrial estate for technical support and adequate monitoring of the project,” he said.
Ogunsanya said that the expected minimum profit per production cycle for each participant was N1,200,000 considering all factors.
Earlier, the Oyo State Chairman of AFAN, Mr Olumide Ayinla, said that agriculture was the major source of livelihood for most people in the state.
He said that apart from its primary role of providing food, employment and raw materials, agriculture remained a veritable source of internally generated revenue for the state.
He pledged that farmers, youths and royal fathers in the state were ready to implement the project.
Ayinla, therefore, commended the Federal Government launching the project and making efforts to revamp the country’s agriculture sector.