By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) said it would in October, inaugurate 50 fish ponds it established to boost fish production in Borno State.
Executive Secretary of NALDA, Mr Paul Ikonne, said this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
Ikonne said the ponds were established in 50 different locations, while about 50 ponds in 10 locations in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, would be inaugurated in October.
He said the project was going to encourage women in value chain of fish production, from hatchery to growing, processing and packaging.
“NALDA’s mandate is to make sure we achieve food security and not only for our consumption but for export in order to earn foreign currency.
“The ponds in Abia State are in one location, but 50 in 50 locations in Maiduguri, Borno State. This is because the governor of Borno has provided the land and all is set.
“As we speak, construction of 50 ponds in 10 locations are going on and we expect that it will be inaugurated by October,” Ikonne said.
He explained that the facility in Ikwuano in Abia would be established as a fish village.
“It will have the hatchery, rearing, processing and packaging points, as well as the crop area where we will grow maize and others in order to produce feeds for the fish.
“But the one in the North is the entire value chain that has residential areas and others and this is basically because of the size and land mass that is made available,” Ikonne said.
