The National Agricultural Land Development Authority ( NALDA) says it is set to begin a fish value chain project that targets to empower two thousand fish farmers and forty processors in Borno state, North East Nigeria.
Executive Secretary/ Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of NALDA, Prince Paul Ikonne made the disclosure when he led a team of NALDA, Borno State officers on official visit to the Borno state government to facilitate official relationship and effective collaboration between NALDA and the state government.
The Executive Secretary further explained that NALDA is out executing President Muhammed Buhari’s directive to go out and retrieve its properties, most importantly, the agricultural lands to facilitate its mandates.
Prince Ikonne stated that the fish value chain is going to be in clusters in the three senatorial districts of the state adding that the project is socio agribusiness with inbuilt sustainability.
He also promised that the project would commence soonest in the state.
In response, the Borno state Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum welcomed the team with a brief on the agricultural activities of the state while expressing the state’s readiness to work with NALDA and to specifically commence the fish project immediately.
Governor Zulum promised to put a committee in place to work with NALDA that would work diligently and carefully to identify the beneficiaries as the key drivers.
He added that the 40 number fish cluster farms will be distributed among the three senatorial districts: North, Central and south in the ratio of 13-14-13 respectively.
He reiterated the state government’s commitment to work closely with NALDA to address the food (protein) supply challenges, unemployment and security.
