Govt urged to support fish farming

The Country Director of Madamfo Ghana, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Mr. Emmanuel Stephenson Kumadey, has stressed the need for the government to adopt strategies that would help provide effective financial support to the private sector, to enable it establish small scale industries.

Mr. Kumandey noted that when this is done, it would go a long way to facilitate the development programme of the country, and help in the quest of creating jobs for the teeming growing population of unemployed youth, and lessen the pressure on the state to provide jobs for the youth.

The Country Director of Madamfo Ghana, said this at Awate-Tornu, when he briefed the media on the viability of cage farming embarked upon by the organisation to create jobs for the youth, and serve as income generation to raise funds to enable the NGO assist in community development activities in the area.

Mr. Kumandey continued that the cage fish farming system was a lucrative venture, and needed to be encouraged, because the maturity period of tilapia, which his organisation had started, was between four to six months for the market, and would serve as one of the best income generating activities.

He said Madamfo Ghana had built 21 cages at Awate-Tornu and Wusuta-Tornu, as a way of generating income to assist in development activities in those communities, but was quick to add that even though the building of the cage was expensive, the returns was more profitable than the cash investment of GH¢2,600 in each of the cages.

The Country Director said the major benefit of the fish farming business was that it had ready markets, as fish was essential in the provision of the protein, and that in particular, tilapia which was one of the favourites of the people, had attracted customers from Accra, Tema, Kumasi, Ho and other places to the project communities.

Mr. Kumandey pointed out that the experience of the organisation was that fish farming had a great potential, because each of the 21 cages was stocked with 5,000 fishes, but the production level could be increased to 60 cages, because the current supply was inadequate.

One of the employees at the Madamfo Ghana farming project, Mr. Clement Jellah, said the job was vital in income generating activities, and appealed to the various district assemblies along the Volta Lake to build cages for the youth along the lake communities to manage and generate income for themselves.

Mr. Jellah explained that the district assemblies and the various members of parliament should collaborate and invest in fish farming for the youth, as they equally take steps to identify the youth in their respective areas, and support them as groups, to engage in other productive ventures which would help create jobs, rather than doling out monies to individuals to embark on businesses of their choice.

He said the assemblies had no problem investing in fish farming, once they build the cage and provide feed for the first four to six months, when the fish would mature for harvesting, and after the first harvest, the group would take over the issue of feed supply, as the interest that they gain in the first harvest would enable them to be independent, without asking for further government.


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