NATIONAL MIRROR 06 MARCH 2012

Revivin moribund fish farmin

of Nigeria, Late Musa Umaru Yar'Adua was governor of Katsina State, he had the objective of transforming the state into a net producer and exporter of fish products.

To achieve this, he introduced large fish farms tlJat employed the teeming youths. Today. the fish ponds have dried up. Here, JAMES DANJUMA looks at ways, the new administration is trying to revive the dream.

.

,

w:.

the late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua was gm-er nor of Katsln3 State. he introduced an alllbltioU5 poUcy in the 8iricwtural sector that \\'QUld he pcreatejobopponwlJUes for the teeming youths.., "'''eD as bring governmf>nl closer to the people..

Through then Department of Local ~rrunent and Ch1l'flalncy It (fairs, headed by Alhajl Abu Damnallam KaraM. the Y;wAdua administration to 2005. In\-"eSted In four key woas., namely beekeeping. livestock rearing.

IrrigatiOn a.1t1 flsher)( TIlI~ sum 11 N25 million was sunk Into each of these. bringtnp till' lotal to NIOO million, wlUllrrlgation sites created alallR se',ernl of the ellsting "'-aler bodies. an organized bo~keepin&actlmy aJong fish ponds and fish markets 3Cr(lt;S the slate.

At Drsl, Ihl' progr.unme flourished with several pe0ple, throlllh ~nment-approved cooperalh-es, given the opportun ty to become self empk)yed. whUe entrepreneurs in UIf!Se sectors began to emerge, with several of them reaping bowlliJW prom.!.

Acconllng to Mallam Usman Jlbrln. who is the Kat· 15 ~ ~ A~ fish Farmers Association ~

' THE INITIATIVE BEGAN TO WANE AND DIE OUT TOWARDS

THE END OF

Y AS' AoUA'S

SECO TERM IN OFFICE, WITH CRITICS CITING SABOTAGE AND INEXPERIENCE AS FACTORS' some of them bought fishes worth as much as NIOO, 000, whUe;;mall-Ume entrepreneurs bought as up to N50, 000 on a weekly basis.

Jibrin said the fishes ....-ere then sold to resta urant owners, fish mongers and other interested public members. and Ulat Initial stage, some ~re earning pronlS ranging from N5, 000 to N35. 000 eftry .'l!ek...

The same was reported in the animal rearing. beekeeping and Irrlgatlonal activities as some of the ent.relireneun were said to have made good returns by the time they sold their produce to consumers.

Some state go\-ernmenlS., who were lmpressed with what was taking place in the state, were reported to have sent representatives to learn t(!Chnicalities of Ule programme! and repUcate same on returo to their sta lions. • But the InltlaU\'e began to wane and dJe out towards the endof YarAdua's second term in office, with allies cilinl; sabot.age and Inexperience as ractors behind the negati\'e deve]opment. ~ \v1lh exception or Gshlng activities In Mala'adun, Sabuwa, DnW'll, Batagar8wa. and KaUllna COWlCU areas, the rest 29 counc.ils have littJe or no fishing ocUvit3t with oonstnlcted fishery centres characterIsed by dry and empty ponds. along with ghost fish mar·

kelS and offices. with little or no money to run existing cooperaU\-"1!S. Some of the rlsh farmers. who spoke on the Issue, al leged that the trustees and cooperatives formed by the then government dJd not do enough to sustain the busl ness in spite of funds allocated to them by the adml.nis tratian.

It was leant that the fish fanning business also experienced setback eru1y In the years of Governor Ibrahim Shema's admInlstration as there was argument as to who sbould bave control over the fish farming and other related projects.

SoUl"Ct!S said that Karon had gone ahead and regis lered the cooperatives with the Corporate Affairs Olm· mission. CAC and organised a fund raJslng where more than NBS million was reallged and shared among the cooperatives to sustain them.

Reason for this was because he was having doublS as to whether lbe new and Incoming Shema admlnlstra tion at the time. would want to sustain the four projects It was lerull that the Shema-Ied go\'ernment had ar· gued that wllh the cooperatives' registration with the CAC, state government's control had thererore, been Iegally rel1lO\'ed from its activities..

Karon, on the other hand, was reported to have said that the state go\'ernment could stW exercise control over the four cooperaUves to ensure proper utilizallon of the monies as well as rustalnabllity of the projects. unless government was totally not interested In dOlng so.

The sltuntlon, It was learnt. led to a meeting with stakeholders summoned by Shema's then Special Advis eron Local Government and Chieftalncy Affain., AUuUi Nastru Shargalle.

But Ole meeting ended In 8 deadJock with the cooperatives insisting 00 their status as a legal entity which eventually led to goo.-ernment's withdra.....al from aU ac-

for nutrition and empowerment

One of 1M n.h

.~ •.

livltles rejanUng the four projects.

When

Nationo' Mirror went rowld some of the fish

markets in the slale, it was discovered that many of the boreholes constructed to help supply needed water for the nsh )JOOm have either collapsed or were no longer functioning. ('Specially m areas where there are no

dams or water reservoir: Also, some of the fish markets. including those of Katslna BataKal'ilWa, Charanch l and several other

council areas, that had opentional stand-by electric generators and w>ep freezers, could no longer use them as many .....ere either broken down or altogether stolen.

The collapse 0: the fish business. according to pun-

dits. had al the -Ime. caused serious scarcity of the commodity whi<h had negative e:Tect on thousands of the mostly rural dwellers who could not afford to buy meat. but relied more on flsh for their nutritional needs.

Moreover, and more recently. several operators of the fish ponds In the state have abandoned lhe business due to what some described as "the lack of market for their procuce_" In an intervieN. chairman of lhe state Fish Farmers Association. AlhaJl Usman Rimaye. said that only 54 of the 142 fis h ponds established across the 34 local governments of the state are slill functional .

Rimaye Identmed lack of markets as the major Iactor mUltating agililst viable fish farming business in the state. and tile situation has forced the fish farmers association to begin leasing out the fishing facilities.

He lamented Ulat the number of fish farmers in the state had dwindled considerably, and had made the fish feed factory run by the association to suspend operations, wlib cnU on stakeholders to save the situation by investing more in the sector for enhanced ftsh production_ As way of salvaging the situation, however. the present government has thought it wise to establish a department that would revive fish farming and other related activities in the state..

The Oe-IJartUlem of PouJtr)~ Fish Farming and Beekeeping as so called, is not the resuscitation of the former cooperative:; that were registered with CAe. but is, however, aimed at reviving Yar'Adua's fish farming and other related polices_ To this (!nd.l~ state government has earmarked the swn of N300 milLon for the deparunent to run Its activities this year, wit, pouJu-x beekeeping and. fish traming

'THE PRES ENT GOVERNME NT HAS THOUGHT IT WISE TO ESTABLISH A DEPARTMENT THAT WOULD REVIVE FISH FARMING AND OTHER RE LAT ED ACTIVIT rES IN T HE STATE' to gu1p Nl50 million. NlOO million and NlOO million respectively. with remaining amount going for overhead costs.

Spe.akLng with newsmen recenUy, the department's head and Special Adviser to the state governor, Hon SahfYu Inono, hlghHghted some of the activities of department to Indude: Resuscitation and development of

extsting fish farms. fish markets, fish trainLng schools, pouJtry houses and beekeeping apiaries within the 34 council areas through partnership agreement with relevant development partners at local, national and where applicable, the LnternaUonal agencles_ He said that farmers and benefiCiary groups would be informed to support them and manage these projects.

Establishment of three pUot centres, one each in the three senatorial zones of the state for demonstrations, skills acquisition and empowe.rment of farmers in fish ftngerHl\is, day old chicks and honey-bee queen production_ Also. establishment of three pilot centres, one for each of the senatorial zone of the state for processing. preservation, storage. packaging, utilisation and marketing of fish, poultry, and honey products and thelr respective by-products aimed at meeting local, national and uJUmately Lnternational demand through exPOrL This, he said. Is expected to attract foreign Lnvestors. save foreign exchange earning of the state and boost soclo-economic activities of the people.

Embark on capacity building, human resource development., empowerment and creation of conducive atmosphere and environment for both staff and farmers for effective performance Ln their respective fields through regular In-house. short term trainLngs. attendance of professional meetings, .seminars, workshops, interaction and study tours, agricultural shows, field days within and outside the countrJ Undertake coUaboration with specialised Lnstitulions, NGOs. national and international organisations for the developm(!nt of fisheries. poulu-x and beekeepIng In the state.

Inono said three people have been selected from each of the council areas of the state for training Ln fishery development and that. existing fish markets would be rehabilitated to ensure max1mwn utillzation_ When JlbrLn. the aforementioned Katslna fish farmers' association secretary was asked on what hls advice wouJd be to government on plans to revive the fish farm Ing project. he said_ government should ensure that only experienced people are allowed to direct the fish farming activities In the state.

He. therefore. maintained that while the effort to revive fish farming is a laudable one, government should, however. ensure that only the services of experienced people are engaged, from the top to grassroots level, as doing otherwise could prove counterproductive.