Farmers at the Eriwe Catfish Farm Village in Ijebu Ode, which records over 2,000 metric tons of annual production, have appealed to the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Federal Government to hand over the newly built fish processing centre in the community to them to boost production and increase revenue generation.

The Cluster President, Aquaculture Cluster, Eriwe Fish Farm Village, Mr. Ibukunola Olarewaju, made the appeal on the sidelines of a training organised for farmers under the FISH4ACP cluster upgrading programme aimed at scaling up productivity and profitability.

FISH4ACP is an initiative of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) designed to make fisheries and aquaculture value chains in Africa, the Caribbean, and Pacific regions more sustainable.

The programme is implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), with funding support from the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Speaking to The Nation on behalf of the farmers, Olarewaju commended the programme’s implementing and funding agencies for the capacity-building training in record keeping, planning, pond preparation, and management, among others, describing the knowledge gained by the farmers as invaluable.

Olarewaju disclosed that Eriwe Fish Farm Village currently has 48 clusters of fish farmers producing fish worth over N50 billion annually for both local and international markets.

He said transferring the fish processing centre to the farmers would significantly scale up production capacity, reduce waste, and improve income for operators in the aquaculture value chain.

The aquaculture leader noted that although the facility had been completed, it had yet to be put to use because it had not been commissioned.

According to him, the facility, constructed by the Federal Government to support aquaculture development in the community, would help farmers add value to their products through smoking, drying, freezing, and packaging.

“Processing adds value to fresh catfish by converting it into smoked, dried, frozen, or packaged products. Value-added fish products attract higher market prices and increase profits for producers and processors,” he said.

Olarewaju noted that poor storage and transportation had continued to expose fish farmers to major post-harvest losses, stressing that the processing facility would address the challenge by preserving fish products for longer periods.

He further stated that the facility would create more employment opportunities and improve livelihoods within the community.

He also called for the elimination of middlemen in the marketing and distribution of fish harvests, arguing that direct market access for farmers would improve profitability and strengthen the fisheries sector.