The Chamber of Aquaculture Ghana has urged government to allocate more resources to the aquaculture sector under the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development.
The Chamber emphasised the need for greater inclusivity and sustainability, expressing concern that government support has been largely concentrated on marine and inland fisheries, often at the expense of aquaculture.
Speaking at a networking event focused on knowledge sharing, strategic partnerships and celebrating women in aquaculture ahead of International Women’s Day, the Chief Executive of the Chamber of Aquaculture Ghana, Jacob Adzikah, stressed the importance of increased budgetary support to drive growth and transformation in the sector.
“Ghana is importing about $250 worth of fish each year. If you support the aquaculture, we can produce a lot locally, and this will go a long way to reduce the volume of fish we import from another part of the world and create sustainable jobs locally. It will also reduce the pressure on the demand for forex in the country.
He further called for a more enabling environment and increased support to help women in aquaculture scale up their businesses, particularly in securing access to funding.
“At the moment it is very difficult for women to have access to finances to scale up largely because it is assumed that aquaculture is a high risk area and financial institutions are not willing to lend a lot of resources to women in aquaculture,” he added.
