Story by Doreen Ampofo
The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture is considering a scale-up of the resilient aquatic food systems initiative by the International Water Management Institute.
The project, which began in 2022, leveraged the use of small dams to sustainably produce fish to create decent jobs, especially for youth in rural communities. The initiative was piloted across four reservoirs in the North-East Region, impacting communities in Langbinsi, Nalerigu, Nansoni, and Tombu.
The pilot demonstrated the multi-functionality of water bodies, supporting not only uses such as irrigation and livestock watering but also aquaculture.
In a message at a workshop by the International Water Management Institute to wrap up the initiative, the minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Madam Hawa Koomson, said the success of the initiative has inspired the Aquaculture for Food and Jobs program, adding that the Ministry will provide policy direction to scale up the project.
She indicated that 24 dams in northern Ghana are benefiting from the resilient aquatic food systems model to improve aquaculture development. She was represented by the Director of Research, Statistics and Information Management, Ishmael Browne.
“The success of this initiative has inspired the Aquaculture for Food and Jobs (AFJ) program, which is now replicating the IWMI-FC – WRI model of aquaculture in small reservoirs across all five northern regions of Ghana. About 24 dams across the five northern regions have been enrolled into the Aquaculture for Food and Jobs and the cages are being installed as we speak. This expansion underscores our commitment to making aquaculture an integral part of Ghana’s food systems, not only as a source of nutrition but also as a driver of youth employment and women’s empowerment.”
Director of Inland Fisheries & Aquaculture, Fisheries Commission, Dr Lawrence Ahiah, who shared lessons from the project highlighted lack of hatcheries and feed production in regions of the north.
‘The prices of fish down south are different from the northern region. This is in the north, there is a bit more operational cost as compared to the south. There were no production fees in the north and there are few hatcheries up north. We needed to transport feed from the south to the North. We were a bit biased on ghetto pricing because of this. We didn’t factor in transport or consider if we cooks find an alternative hatchery or feed shop within the Northeast Region to be able to produce fingerlings. We also didn’t advertise so well, so at a point we had to go to the communities, bring fish to Tamale to sell. The community interest areas only after we had sold everything. This led to some fish spoilage in the process and the prices were not stable.”
Some beneficiary fish farmers complained about post-harvest losses and the cost of feed. They appealed to the government to support them.
