The beginning of good things in the Fishing Industry-Raanan

The last time I checked from the Fisheries Commission, the consumption rate per year in the country for fish is 800,000 metric tons but the nation is able to produce only 400,000 metric tons per year. The country also imports 200,000 metric tons yearly, leaving a deficit of 200,000 metric tons.

Even though there are some individuals and groups of people who make use of the Volta Lake to produce to meet the huge fish deficit, the gap is still huge and there is a question of whose intervention will turn this golden venture into reality for Ghanaians to see the golden opportunity.

National Fish Farmers Brigade surfaced in September 10, 2010 and did its best to sensitize the youth and the general public to invest in this golden venture. The brigade started production with 1.6 metric tons and is currently having about 528.42 metric tons, a little over a year of operation. Looking forward to a day where the Fish Farmers Brigade will beat the production capacity of the foreign competitor “West Africa Fish Limited” also operating on the Volta Lake and the current best National Fish Farm, with a production capacity of one thousand, five hundred (1,500) metric tons.

Dr. Joseph Kittson Ofori is an Aqua culturist and a Senior Research Scientist with the Water Research Institute. Based on his numerous studies on the Volta Lake, he has come up on authority that, the lower basin of the Akosombo Dam is not good for cage farming because of the high pollution of the lake by human activities and the fact that the lake is unstable for fish cultivation.

There is also a natural phenomenon called upwelling (The turn of the water when the cold surface water moves down to replace the bottom warm water). This is common with the stretch of the lake between the Akosombo Dam and that of the Kpong Dam.

Even though this information is there for interested fish farmers to consider, we still have a number of fish cages on the disaster prone areas.

On 24^th August, 2010, about 40 farmers lost fishes in their cages when there was an upwelling. Farmers around these areas lost about three thousand metric tons of fishes during the occurrence. No one can predict when the next occurrence will happen but the most affected farmers (AZ0FA) are still into business around the same area.

Two years ago, fish feed price available to farmers from one of the giants in the production of fish feed in the world was GH₵36.00. The price was that much since it was determined by middle-men who imported the product from Raanan in Israel. The dollar rate plus profit for the importers also played a major role in the final cost of the feed to the farmers.

In 2010, Raanan set up an office in Ghana and did two things; they took care of fish feed importation, dealt directly with the farmers to help reduce the cost of feed.

Fish feed is an essential commodity in the production of fish. The main components include: maize, soya bean, fish meal, brown wheat and brown rice. These are elements that could easily be purchased from crop farmers in Ghana but my checks indicate that, 225 metric tons representing 75% is been imported by Raanan Fish Feed. Raanan in November 20, 2011 set up a fish feed plant at Prampram, with an initial capacity of 20,000 metric tons. However, there are plans to produce huge tons to serve West African countries. Ghana is the host and the first to have this to turn her deficit around but the question remains whether or not she is ready to take up the challenge and make use of the opportunities available to her.

We already have shortage of maize in the country and soya bean production is also not enough to even feed the fish feed industry. Another critical concern has to do with the quality of the product if Raanan is to buy from the local farmers.

Next time when journeying on the Tema–Aflao road, turn right to Prampram and locate Raanan, near the Ghana man Soccer of Excellence.

Can we say the institution of Raanan Fish Feed in Ghana is the beginning of the fight to combat the two thousand fish deficit in Ghana?        

Owura Asamoah