The Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Clement Kofi Humado, who launched the programme on behalf of President J.E.A. Mills, also tasked the management of the NYEP to endeavour to ensure that the aquaculture concept, which was designed to create more job opportunities for the youth through fish farming, was sustained to fulfil the governments job creation agenda.
A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Global Agricultural Foundation (GAFUND), which is spearheading the concept on a pilot basis in collaboration with the NYEP, has so far engaged 500 youth at Kpeve in the Volta Region and Akaten in the Eastern Region.
President Mills, whose keynote address was delivered on his behalf by Mr Humado, in re-affirming job creation for the youth and investing in people as one of the key commitments of the government, bemoaned the deteriorating manner in which fish species in the water bodies are being endangered by human activity.
He expressed the hope that the coming into effect of the aquaculture programme could help stem the tide.
The Chairman of the Fisheries Commission, Mr Mike Akyeampong, said 10 per cent of Ghanaians depend on fishing for their livelihood and that demand for fish stands at 880,000 metric tonnes with production being 420,000 metric tonnes, leaving a deficit of 460,000 metric tonnes which he described as abysmal.
Government Launches Youth-In Aquaculture Concept
GHANA - The government has launched the YouthIn-Aquaculture concept of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) with a directive to the ministries of Food and Agriculture, and Education to step up education campaigns on fish farming in educational institutions to help sensitise the citizenry to the need to protect the countrys aquaculture system.
