The Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has pledged to continue providing fish farmers in the state with the necessary equipment and incentives to thrive, as the state marks World Fisheries Day, as reported by Voice of Nigeria.

The Governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mrs Oloruntoyosi Thomas, at an event to commemorate World Fisheries Day, organised by the State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said his administration is committed to addressing the challenges facing agriculture, including the fishery sector, to ensure food sufficiency in the state.

“As a State, the fish sub-sector is important to us. Apart from creating jobs for our teeming youths, its nutritional benefits are very important to us. So, we are focusing on not just improving our productivity in quantity but also in quality. We want to be known as a State that is paying attention to nutrition and taking the right steps in the right direction”, the Governor said.

AbdulRazaq said the government is currently working on how to ensure fish farmers make their own feeds by themselves to reduce the high cost of feeds.

He advised the youths to take full advantage of value chains in the fish sector by engaging in the fish business productively.

“We have engaged various stakeholders and our partners at the University of Ilorin and Kwara State University and other private sectors to come up with our own feed that is cheaper and of high quality in the State, using some substitute that can complement the expensive components of the feed formulation especially the protein aspect,” he said.

The Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Yakubu Danladi-Salihu, said it is not easy for anybody to stay in the business, looking at the economy of the nation and the cost of feeds which has caused significant reduction in the number of fish farmers.

Danladi-Salihu, who was represented by the Chairman, House Committee on Agriculture, Saba Yisa Gideon, however, encouraged fish farmers not to relent in adding value to the economy of the State.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs Funke Sokoya who highlighted some of the challenges facing fish farming, including aquatic ecosystem and climatic change, said the government is leaving no stone unturned to address them in the State.

“Sustainable fisheries are critical to food security, poverty alleviation, and development“, Mrs Sokoya, said.

Director Fisheries Services, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Florence Ajayi, appreciated the Kwara State Governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, for giving the Fisheries Department of the Ministry a new face, with a hatchery as a gift for the celebration.

This year's celebration is themed:“The Economic Significance of Fishery to the Development of Kwara State.”

The event was well attended by some government officials including the Chairman, Kwara State House of Assembly Committee on Agriculture, Saba Yisa Gideon; Yinusa Bello Oniboki; Senior Special Assistant to Kwara State Governor on Agriculture, Musa Baba Muhammad; Special Assistant on Small-holder Farmers Intervention, Suleiman Belle; and the General Manager , Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP) Dr Abdulwasiu Tejidini.

Others were Managing Director, Kwara Agric Development Project ADP, Dr Mrs Khadijat Ayinke Ahmed; Head of the Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries, University of Ilorin, Prof Wasiu Adeyemi Jimoh; Vice Chairman Fisheries Society of Nigeria (FISON) and a lecturer at the Kwara State University, Malete, Dr Bamidele Folorunsho; Alhaji Kamaldeen Alasinrin from Kwara State Fish Breeders Association (KWAFIBA); Chairman, Association of Fish Farmers in the State, General Olusupo; and Chairman Fisheries Society of Nigeria, Kwara State branch, Pastor Steven Dele Ogunrinola; among others.