The World Bank Consultant for Ghana, Dr Ato Conduah, says the Bank together with the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture have come together to promote aquaculture production – or fish farming – in Ghana.
According to him, fish from the sea alone cannot satisfy the whole population of Ghana, so the Ministry and the Bank will provide support to boost farmers engaged in aquaculture production.
Dr Conduah says he is excited about the interest people in Ashanti Region have shown in aquaculture production, and that his outfit is also ready to help boost production. He added that very soon the Ashanti Region would be able to produce their own fish.
He called on all aquaculture farmers to come together and help in the production to provide an alternative to the sea fish. This came to light in an interview during the Edwaso segment on Kessben TV’s Adeakye Abia program.
Boost fisheries sub-sector
The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors on July 14, 2011 approved a total investment cost of US$ 53.8 million for Ghana.
The amount comprises of a grant of US$ 3.5 million from Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and a loan of US$ 50.3 million from International Development Association (IDA). The funds will be used to implement the Fisheries and Aquaculture Project in Ghana.
The project comprises five components.
The first component is Good Governance and Sustainable Management of the Fisheries (US$ 15.2 million IDA: US$3.5 million GEF) This component aims to build the capacity of the Government and stakeholders to develop and implement policies through a shared approach that would ensure that the fish resources are used in a manner that is environmentally sustainable, socially equitable and economically profitable.
It will comprise the following four sub-components:
(i) Developing the legal and operational policy to enable the implementation of the Ghana Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector Development Plan;
(ii) Strengthening fisheries management, including fishing rights and stakeholder-based management and ensuring necessary research activities for sustainable exploitation;
(iii) Aligning fishing capacity and effort to sustainable catch levels; and
(iv) Social marketing, communication and transparency.
