Aquaculture for Food and Jobs program launched in Jamestown

Company News from Saturday, January 26, 2019

Source: goldstreetbusiness.com

2019-01-26

Replicating the Planting Program for Food and Employment (PFJ) of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture has been testing its own Aquaculture program for feeding and jobs at James Camp Prison Farming in Accra.

The prison camp is home to some of the Ghanaian citizens found guilty of violating the law. It is one of the oldest penitentiary institutions in the country, established in 1948.

As part of its rehabilitation mandate, inmates received training in landscaping, horticulture, fabric design, laundry, sewing, bead making, shoe making, canopy making, ceramics and carpentry. in order to make a decent living. the temptation to return to crime.

For this reason, the camp selection pilot project is the most opportune, even as the government seeks to strengthen the country's depleted fish stock.

Sector Minister Elizabeth Naa Afoley Quaye revealed that besides the prison camps, high schools are also supported for raising fish for consumption and sale. She said that about 10 million GHc would be injected into the program.

Program observers plan to generate a value of 135 million GHc from 150 metric tons of fish.

Fish pond farmers say fish feed prices account for more than 70% of the cost of producing fish farming, and urge the government to help establish mini-mills to produce fish feed in some areas of production .

The mbadive lake tilapia deaths on Lake Volta have raised concerns about the emergence of diseases that could derail the program, but the Hon. Quaye has ruled out the possibility of Tilapia Lake Virus (TLV) in the death of tilapia recently; Instead, she said the deaths were due to a bacterial infection badociated with environmental factors.

Ghana consumes more than 950,000 tonnes of fish a year, but imports more than 60%. In 2016, it imported $ 135 million worth of fish because of the reduction in the country's fish stocks.

The program for fishermen consists of stopping the country's stock of depleted fish, ensuring an adequate supply of fish throughout the year and creating jobs in coastal communities.

To give the prison camp a head start, they were offered 3000 fingerlings introduced into the fish pond, while 235 bags of fish feed were also donated with the support of RANAAN Fish Feed West Africa.