Business
Expert Urges Government To Invest More In Fishery
The Kaduna State Government has been urged to subsidise the cost of fish feeds to encourage individual investments in the development of fish farming in the state.
Assistant Director of Fishery, Kaduna Agricultural Development Project (KADP), Mr Abel Williams, made the appeal in an interview with newsmen in Kaduna.
Williams advised the government to make fish feeds easily accessible to farmers to help them sustain their production.
He said the demand for government’s support became imperative as fish farmers in the northern parts of the country were interested in buying into the emerging fish farming business.
Williams said that government should not allow fish feeds which, he noted, constituted about 70 per cent in fishery production, to impede the expanding employment opportunity.
“Most of our fish farmers’ farms are collapsing; they can’t compare themselves with those in the south.
“Fish farmers in the south have gone far; they have ways of producing their feeds,’’ he said.
Williams said that fish farming in Kaduna State would grow astronomically if the state government subsidised the cost of feeds or developed a programme for production of cheap feeds.
He also urged the state government to enhance the fish industry by building fish feed mills across the three senatorial zones of the state, and urged it to also assist in sustainable power supply to enhance storage.
“At least an alternative means of power should be provided in other to encourage fish farmers,” he said.
He said that the provision of resources and equipment would ensure positive development and improvement in fish production in the state.
Williams urged the government to domesticate the ideals of the just-concluded World Bank assisted Community Based Agriculture and Rural Development Project (CBRADP) that is design to address poverty in rural areas.
He called for the inclusion of 60 per cent funds for projects sustainability in all development programmes’ budget.
“If these programmes stop, what happens? Will the people go back to square one if the World Bank is funding a project for five years?
“It would not be the best to train someone to start something and stop along the line without achieving the targeted goal,’’ he said. (NAN)
Business
NAFDAC Decries Circulation Of Prohibited Food Items In markets …….Orders Vendors’ Immediate Cessation Of Dealings With Products
Importers, market traders, and supermarket operators have therefore, been directed to immediately cease all dealings in these items and to notify their supply chain partners to halt transactions involving prohibited products.
The agency emphasized that failure to comply will attract strict enforcement measures, including seizure and destruction of goods, suspension or revocation of operational licences, and prosecution under relevant laws.
The statement said “The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised an alarm over the growing incidence of smuggling, sale, and distribution of regulated food products such as pasta, noodles, sugar, and tomato paste currently found in markets across the country.
“These products are expressly listed on the Federal Government’s Customs Prohibition List and are not permitted for importation”.
NAFDAC also called on other government bodies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Shippers Council, and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), to collaborate in enforcing the ban on these unsafe products.
