Nigeria unveils new plan to upgrade catfish production

Nigeria’s huge catfish sector can improve production and offer better jobs without additional burden on the environment, according to a ten-year development plan presented to some 50 stakeholders and experts, who discussed concrete action to achieve the strategy’s ambitious goals. “Nigeria is the world’s largest producer of African catfish on which millions of people’s livelihoods depend,” said Ime S Umoh, director of fisheries and aquaculture, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, at a meeting in Abuja on 29 June, where a ten-year plan for the sustainable development of Nigeria’s catfish sector was presented. He added, “our goal is to improve domestic catfish production, not only in quantity, but also in quality, while providing better jobs for our people and making sure no harm is done to the environment.” The strategy, developed by the global fish value chain development initiative FISH4ACP with stakeholders from across the Nigerian catfish sector, lays down a ...