Kwara govt reaffirms support for fish farmers to boost economy
The Kwara State Government has reiterated its unwavering support to fish farmers in the state in carrying out their aqua business to boost the economy in the state.
The General Manager of the Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP), Dr Abdulwasiu Olayinka Tejidini while making this known when the Executive Members of the duo of Kwara State Fish Breeders Association(KWAFIBA) and Association of Fish Farmers in Kwara (AFFAK), in his office located at Fate road, Ilorin, said this support was to enhance productivity and economic development of the farmers.
Dr Tejidini also said the government, under the leadership of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, is ready to address challenges being faced in the agricultural sector, fish farming by extension, intending to surmount them.
He said, “The fish sector is very important to us, ranging from the creation of jobs for our teeming youths, the nutritional benefits of the quality fish being produced as well as the economic development. All these are very important to us. We are therefore looking at not just improving our productivity in quantity, but also empowering our fishermen, so they can do more.
“We want to be known as a State that is paying attention to nutrition and taking the right steps in the right direction”, he stressed further.
The GM, however, assured of the government’s readiness to empower the teeming youths and also look into how fish feeds can be made available at subsidized rates.
Earlier in her remarks, the Director of Fishery, Kwara State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments, Mrs Oluwatoyin Florence Ajayi, while commending the State Government for its support for fish farmers in the state, decried the challenges being faced by the association, while appealing to the government on empowerment, to enhance their productivity.
Also speaking, the representative of Kwara State Fish Breeders Association (KWAFIBA) Alhaji Kamaldeen Alasinrin acknowledged numerous ways in which the government has been of great help to the association while soliciting more support in the form of training and job opportunities for the fish farmers.
