US promises sustained support in livestock, fisheries production

The country’s Ambassador and MINEPIA boss charted a new cooperation course last Friday, October 3.

The Ambassador of the United States of America (USA) in Cameroon, Michael Hoza, has promised his country’s sustained support to Cameroon in the livestock and fisheries production to cut down importation that drains the country of scarce cash.

The US diplomat made the commitment on Friday October 3, 2014 after holding talks with the Minister of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Industries, Dr Taiga in the Minister’s cabinet.

“We have a long history of collaboration and strong partnership with regards to fishing. Today, we explored ways through which we can advance our partnership both for a responsible fishing off the coast of Cameroon as well as aquaculture and how we may collaborate on that,” Mr Hoza said.

He added that the meeting also enabled him to learn government’s efforts to improve fish production notably artisanal fishing off the coast of Cameroon as well as the control of international fishing in the country.

“We’ve also looked at work inside the country to assure the supply of meat for Cameroon given that it is the breadbasket for the region and we are happy with the successful work we have done with Lanavet to protect the animals from diseases,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Sub Director in the department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Divine Ngala Tombuh, noted that the ministry has been working with the American Peace Corps to advance fish farming in inland water to bridge the demand/supply gap.

“We produce only about 180,000 tons and demand is around 400,000 tons. We therefore need to surmount major challenges of feed and seed so that we can effectively touch the farmers,’ he said.