By Dipo Olowookere
Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Heineken Lokpobiri, has disclosed that the Federal Government has raised the supply of fish to 1.1 million metric tonnes from 800 metric tonnes in 2015 to cover for the deficit of 2.1 million metric tonnes.
Mr Lokpobiri explained that the increase in fish production was a result of the government’s policy of backward integration of breeding fish locally and reduction in fish importation.
He said the Federal Government was “working hard to close the deficit of demand on fish in Nigeria and also to meet the fish demand in West Africa, which depends on us as a country, including grain supplied to them.”
The Minister, while speaking recently at the launch of the first premium aquaculture harvesting of Tilapia fish in Nigeria at the Oyan Dam on the Ogun-Osun River Basin site in Abeokuta, Ogun State, noted that the government has committed to the agriculture sector, particularly the aquaculture industry which is a major component of the sector, and has, therefore, formulated policies to upscale fish production for self-sufficiency and food security.
He said, “We have confirmed the increase in production from the 800 metric tonnes in 2015 to the current supply of 1.1 million metric tonnes which has increased production to meet the deficit of 2.1 million metric tonnes gap.
“This increase was achieved through the policy of backward integration of breeding fish locally, thereby reducing the importation to cut the pressure on the foreign exchange.”
