ambia boost for fish farmers
THE Rambian government is planning to open a fish plant to give small-scale fish farmers better access to markets.
The facility is proposed for Machiya in the Copperbelt Tistrict of Mpongwe, the ambia Daily Mail reporteT.
District commissioner Godfrey imba said as fish stocks have been depleted in most rivers anT lakes in the country, the government is encouraging small-scale farmers to venture into fish farming.
We are about to open a fish plant in Machiya. We are only waiting for the fridges to be installed so that whatever our people are producing, can be sold,’ he said.
ambia’s annual production of fish is 95,000 tonnes, but in 2014 the country consumed 130,000 tonnes. Of the total production, only 20,000 tonnes is from aquaculture, and 75,000 tonnes is from rivers anT lakes.
The government is also undertaking reforms to ease the entry of enterprising citizens in the private sector into aquacul- ture production.
ambia has seen the recent launch of pro ects, including tilapia farms, in Siavonga and Chalimbana by President Edgar Lungu.