By JAMES KUNDA –
THE Government will this year recruit 114 fisheries extension officers countrywide to implement projects to boost fish production by local farmers.
Agriculture and Livestock Deputy Minister Greyford Monde said in an interview in Lusaka that the people engaged would offer extension services to fish farmers to enable them apply best practices in fish farming.
Mr Monde said the move was in direct response to President Edgar Lungu’s concern that the country was importing more than 40,000 tonnes of fish despite having 40 per cent of water bodies in Southern Africa.
Zambia’s fish imports are mainly sourced from China but the country has scoured US$50 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to scale up fish production by locals.
“We are strengthening the fisheries department by recruiting more officers to boost extension ser