PP ON FISHERIES Fisheries are one of the sub-sectors whose potential is yet to be fully exploited. It is an important source of proteins to the majority of Malawians and a source of employment especially for communities living along the country’s major lakes and rivers. The fisheries sub-sector has the potential to be one of the main export revenue earners but it has not been fully exploited. The PEOPLE’S PARTY notes that the initiatives that have been taken in the sub-sector have been largely ad-hoc and donor driven. Consequently, the fisheries sub- sector has been in a perpetual state of decline. The PEOPLE’S PARTY Government will therefore prioritise the fisheries sub-sector under the banner of the ‘Malawi Fish for All Initiative’. The main goal of this initiative will be to promote sustainable fish production that will involve women and the youth through among other things, promotion of public private partnerships and investment in fish rearing in cages and ponds, and capture fisheries. More specifically, the PEOPLE’S PARTY Government will do the following: • Extend credit facilities to fishing businesses through the Agricultural Development Bank and other alternative financial institutions and thereby creating 50,000 jobs over the next five years; • Promote fish processing, value addition and marketing to increase fish exports from 500 tonnes to 5,000 tonnes by 2018; • Facilitate training for research and extension staff in integrated fish farming, feed production, fish handling, processing and marketing; ncrease sustainable fish production from capture fisheries from 98,000 to 200,000 tonnes per annum by 2018; • Promote development of small and large scale commercial aquaculture production through development of integrated fish farming schemes; • Establish fish farmers’ organizations and cooperatives at the grass root level; • Promote increased utilization of dam, irrigation canals and other water bodies for small scale aquaculture; • Promote crop-livestock-fish integrated farming; and encourage private investment in hatcheries; • Facilitate the development of appropriate infrastructure for handling, storage and processing of fish in key areas; and • Establish regulatory body for Fisheries Industry for licensing and regulating the industry for fair fishing by all categories of fishermen. THE PEOPLES PARTY., THE ONLY PARTY WITH A MANIFESTO IN MALAWI. MORE THAN READY TO CONTINUE WITH OUR POLICIES
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 10:43:45 +0000