In order to reduce post-harvest losses and curb the effects of fish mongers, the Lagos State government, through the Agro-Productivity, Processing, Enhancement, and Livelihood Support (APPEALS) project, a World Bank-funded project, has supported catfish farmers in the state with blast freezers.
The state’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Abisola Olusanya, while speaking at the commissioning of the blast freezer center presented to fish farmers under the aegis of the Lagos State Catfish and Allied Association of Nigeria (LASCAFAN), noted that the project was to promote value addition.
Olusanya pointed out that introducing frozen catfish would address post-harvest losses recorded annually in the catfish subsector as well as deliver fish farmers from the crush of fish mongers, who determine price without recourse to cost of production.
Lagos Distributes Inputs to Enhance Fish Production
The commissioner, who was represented by the Director of Fisheries, Daisi Osunkoya, said that fish, as a major source of protein, is low in cholesterol, making it medically acceptable to young and old people. He added that the flexibility of fish farming encouraged the involvement of both older and younger people in fish farming as a means of livelihood.
The Lagos State Coordinator for the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Omolara Oguntuyi, advised the farmers to continue the good work they are doing and to ensure that they guide what they are doing jealously.
EU,FAO, ECOWAS, Collaborate Over Fishery Management in West Africa
“It is good you are doing what you are doing, and please follow what you have started. Don’t let it be that in a twinkle of an eye it is dead. Make sure you guide it jealously and hand it over to your children. She said.
The chairman of blast freezer management and a former national president of the Catfish Association of Nigeria, Tayo Akingbolagun, disclosed on his own that the project will not only save farmers from middlemen but also keep farmers in production and enable them to sell fish at an affordable price, and more people will come into the business.
