LAGOS State Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) Project in conjunction with the Nigerian Institute of Oceanography and Marine Research (NIOMR) has trained farmers in the aquaculture value chain on fish processing and marketing.
Mrs. Oluranti Sagoe-Oviebo, the State Project Coordinator of APPEALS Project, speaking during the three-day training for fish farmers drawn from various aquaculture clusters in Lagos State said the knowledge gained by the farmers would help them to solve challenge of marketing and minimize post-harvest losses in aquaculture sector.
NIOMR deals with effective and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources through improved post-harvest preservation, utilization and storage using profitable technological processes to key into the national development goals of food security, poverty reduction, and marine cleanliness.
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APPEALS is a World Bank assisted project to enhance agricultural productivity of small and medium scale farmers based to improve value addition in Poultry, Aquaculture and Rice. The project was implemented through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in six participating states of Cross River, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi and Lagos.
The Project Coordinator noted that the training will help farmers to improve their capacities, strengthen their productivity and lead to higher profits for farmers, as well as increasing processed output to create jobs and reduce farmer’s losses in terms of waste and glut.
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The facilitator for Aquaculture Value Chain in Lagos APPEALS Project, Mrs. Bukola Idowu, said that participants of the training have been taught various things they can judiciously use catfish for like fish cracker, fish burger and most importantly, how to can catfish and tilapia in oil and tomato sauce.
Head of Department, Fish Technology and Product Development for the institute, Dr. Olaitan Olajuigbe, said it will be a good investment for fish farmers to venture into canned fish in Nigeria.
