IFAD earmarks $93.5m to support 727,000 farmers in 7 states
Prof. Morenike Adewolu of the Lagos
state University (LASU) has called on the Federal Government to
increase investment in the production of fish feed locally to improve
the Nation’s fishing industry.
Adewolu, a professor of Aquaculture and
Fish Nutrition, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in
Lagos that local fish production is hampered by high cost of imported
feeds.
The professor spoke to NAN on the
sideline of the institutions’ 62nd inaugural lecture at its Ojo
campus in Lagos.
Adewolu, who spoke on the topic “Feed
the Fish: Feed the Nation”, said that Nigeria needs to have fish
feed mills that would use 100 per cent local ingredients for various
fish species.
She said that aquaculture plays an
important role towards food security and nutrition for citizens.
According to her, a healthy meal of
fish would provide the necessary nutritional values required to
bridge the gap of poor food match in the country.
She called on government to facilitate
research into local species of fish and the appropriate feed for them
in order to improve production.
She advocated for monitoring of the
nutritional content of farmed fish to ensure that feed ingredients
did not affect their body composition.
“There is the need for fish
nutritionists, human nutritionists, food scientists and others to
work together and explore cultured fish to tackle the prevailing
malnutrition and other nutritional diseases in the country.
“This is considering the fact that
people are encouraged to consume fish, high in Omega-3 fatty acids,
which promote cardiovascular health and neurodevelopment.’’
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