Fish farmer laments lack of access to market for harvest

Agriculture provides food to feed the population but most importantly financial security to the hard working farmers.

It however appears some local farmers are cutting down investment in the business because of little returns.

Nana Asumin Baffour Gyekye, a chief at Asonomaso in the Kwabre East District of Ashanti speaks of his dilemma as a farmer who was encouraged to go into fish farming but later ignored by agricultural officials.

His story is one of many farmers in the area whose passion for farming is gradually dying-off because they are getting virtually nothing from their investment.

Nana Asumin, a former District Best Farmer, was advised by officials of the Fisheries Department to go into aquaculture for which he had two ponds constructed for him two years ago.

He was promised of a ready market for his commercial fish production but now getting bulk buyers for fresh produce remains a challenge.

“They advised me to do this thing and now they have abandoned me; and I know the government wants to improve the aquaculture sector, even in Ashanti region but they’ll come and take their figures and go but some of us who have the interest, the skil and even the land to do it, they won’t approach you,” cried Nana Asumin.

He suspects sabotage to frustrate his efforts because of his potential to become one of the biggest fish farmers in the region.

The fisheries department in the Ashanti region has however denied claims of ignoring some farmers who were encouraged to venture aquaculture.

Officials, who would not speak on record, acknowledged they are mandated to provide technical support and sometimes facilitate the sales of harvested fish.

The department is however not mandated to directly find buyer to purchase the table-size fish from farmers, said the source.

The farmers have therefore been asked to be competitive in pricing their products to attract patrons.