Fish farming: World Bank-backed Ogun project generates N9.17bn
File copy of the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Bolu Owotomo
Says a total of 4,256 aquaculture farmers have benefitted from programs
The Ogun State Government has disclosed that its aquaculture support programme under the World Bank-backed Ogun State Economic Transformation Project has generated an estimated ₦9.17 billion in revenue for fish farmers across the state following sustained investments in feed subsidies, infrastructure development and capacity building.
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Bolu Owotomo, according to a statement on Tuesday, made this known in Eriwe, Ijebu, while addressing stakeholders during an ongoing inspection of OGSTEP-funded agricultural projects across fish clusters and farm settlements in Ogun State.
Owotomo disclosed that “a total of 4,256 aquaculture farmers have benefitted from the various intervention programmes, which were designed to boost fish production, reduce production costs and improve farmers’ incomes.
“The government has equally supplied 195,436 bags of fish feed to farmers at a 30 per cent subsidy, representing a direct government investment of ₦2,745,875,800 to cushion the impact of rising input costs,” he said.
The commissioner explained “that the intervention had resulted in an estimated aquaculture output of 4,256 metric tons of fish, contributing significantly to food security and reducing dependence on imported fish”.
He added that the state government had also extended support to the poultry subsector, with 1,272 broiler farmers benefitting from the programme while 77,703 bags of broiler feeds were distributed across the State.
Owotomo said that some other broiler farmers were supported with the production of 500 birds each and linked to off-takers to prevent post-harvest losses.
During the inspection, the commissioner visited the Ijebu Development Initiative for Poverty Reduction at the Eriwe Fish Farm Cluster, which comprises about 600 fish farmers and has been equipped with a modern fish processing facility.
He disclosed that the facilities included a 5-tonne solar-powered blast freezer, a 10-tonn cold room, a 500/900-capacity chest freezer, four 50kg smoking kilns, three 100kg smoking kilns, 400-litre holding tanks, among others.
Owotomo also inspected ongoing fish processing facilities at the Ikangba Fish Farm Cluster, which has about 1,224 fish farmers, and the Ikenne Fish Farm Cluster, noting that similar processing infrastructure is being deployed in the Ibiade, Ado-Odo, and Ilashe fish clusters.
He stressed that the OGSTEP intervention is statewide and inclusive, aimed at reducing post-harvest losses, promoting value addition and stabilising prices across the aquaculture value chain.
“This is a clear demonstration that when government support is well-targeted, agriculture becomes profitable for farmers and beneficial to the economy,” the commissioner said.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Angel Adelaja, the Chairman of Ikenne Local Government, Jamiu Asimi, as well as the Chairman of the Catfish Farmers Association in Ijebu, Mr. Lazarus Okole, lauded the government’s support for the farmers, maintaining that such support had helped to impact food production in the state.
