A fish farmers cooperative society with over 40 members in Abuja Nigeria benefited in a one day capacity building and sensitization seminar on best practices in fish farming, fish processing and value chain opportunities of the business.

The event took place recently at the Millennium builders plaza, in the central business district area of the Federal capital territory Abuja, Nigeria.

The workshop had in attendance representatives of the National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), National Youth Chamber of Commerce (NYCC), Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) and Aller Aqua Nigeria Limited.

Mrs Hafsat Modibbo a director of the agency in attendance assured the farmers of the continued support of the agency to fish farmers and aquaculture in the country.

Dr Chekwube N. Ifeadi and Mr Bashir A.M  of the Veterinary Medicine and Allied Products directorate of the agency were facilitators.

Dr Ifeadi trained the farmers on antibiotic use, dangers of drug abuse and the adverse effects of not observing drug withdrawal periods which results in antimicrobial resistance and the adverse effect on human health.

Mr Bashir spoke of inspection requirements of the agency to set up a feed mill and also spoke of current trends in feed and feed processing and cautioned the farmers on sharp practices and the dangers of using adulterated and low quality feed ingridients to make and feed their fish that they will eventually not succeed in the business.

He also added the government had taken steps to ensure the ease of doing business by the farmers by introducing the Micro small and medium scale enterprises (MSME) option during registration of business.The process has been made easier for small scale businesses he stated.

Dr Peter Ayim of the Youth chamber of Commerce and Mr Okon Ofonima of the Agric Rural Development Secretariat of the Federal Capital Development Authority also assured the farmers of their support and commitment.

They stressed that the value chain is underutilized and the potentials are yet to be exploited by fish farmer cooperative groups.

They suggested these are some of the areas the farmers should take advantage of and they are willing to partner with the farmers to achieve this.

Dr Larry Obaje of Aller Aqua Nig Ltd assures the farmers of the continued commitment of the company to the cause of fish farmers in the country and the success of the aquaculture industry as a whole in Nigeria.

The spokesperson for the coperative group Mr Ekene Dominic called on the Federal government to ensure the right policies are put in place to make aquaculture thrive in the country.

Aller aqua has been involved in sponsorship and support of most aquaculture related programs since 2015 in Nigeria.