Economie

Aquaculture: Cameroon Boosts Fish Production

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14 sept. 2017 00:57
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The steady stride is geared towards curbing importation of frozen fish while meeting up with domestic demand

Government is steadily encouraging farmers to engage in the rearing of diverse species of fish and increase its production in order to meet national demand of the delicacy. The efforts seem to have been paying off as during the April 26, 2017, cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister, Head of Government Philemon Yang called on the Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industry to elaborate a strategy to stop the importation of aquaculture products by 2020. This suggests that by 2020, Cameroon will be fish self-sufficient and would likely have the capacity to export the product.
The United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) posits that since aquaculture, was introduced into Cameroon in 1948, the country has been party to several bilateral projects and a variety of different programmes in this sector to encourage the adoption of this new form of fish culture. The FAO holds that Cameroon’s output in terms of fish farming has been “modest.”
Statistic show that fish production in the country is yet to meet domestic demand estimated at 400,000 tonnes per year. This shortfall is orchestrated by the lack of fishing equipment as well as qualified fishers. As a result, the country imports more than 200,000 tonnes of fish products annually for home consumption.
Against the backdrop of continuing decline in domestic fish catches and the growing volumes of frozen fish imported, the Government jerked into revitalising the aquaculture sector so as to meet the strong demand as a result of the spiralling population and to curtail massive outflows of foreign exchange. As such, the sector became a priority for the Government which drew up a strategic framework for sustainable aquaculture development.
A landmark project put in place by the Government to keep the fisheries sector kicking is the Aquaculture Entrepreneurship Promotion Project (PPEA). The project seeks to promote profitable aquaculture enterprises that create jobs across the country.