Professor Charles Tortoe, Director, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – Food Research Institute (CSIR – FRI), has called for the need to increase the production of fish by developing aquaculture.
He said this would facilitate the implementation of value-added processes to improve the product quality and develop a comprehensive sales and marketing strategy to effectively promote the expanded range of products.
The Director was speaking at a foresight workshop of the HealthyFoodAfrica project, organised by the CSIR – FRI and its partners in Accra.
The workshop sought to understand how participants see the future of food systems and also to share their understanding and visions of what the future of the food system in Ghana will look like in the next 10 years and beyond.
The workshop convened farmers, researchers, academia, regulatory bodies, processors, policymakers, and other key stakeholders in the food value chain to co-create and co-share ideas for future developments.
Professor Tortoe sai
d global fish consumption was increasing, driven by population growth, and changing dietary preferences, and that aquaculture could help meet this demand sustainably.
‘Aquaculture generates employment in farming, processing, and distribution, benefiting local economies, and provides livelihoods for many, particularly in rural, and coastal areas,’ he added.
Professor Tortoe said the project over the years had helped the FRI to establish a fish processing services facility on their premises that was open to the public to process fish for the markets.
He said this processing used the latest technology in fish processing, like the Ahotor oven, which was being promoted to replace the chorkor ovens.
Professor Tortoe said the Institute had also developed several products of fish, be it fish powder, fish smoked products, and various varieties of fish products that were available for the public.
He said the FRI had developed six training models on fish and its products that were also open to the public for a fee,
to aid Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) who would want to add value to fish.
Dr Mila Sell, Project Coordinator, HealthyFoodAfrica, said the project was currently being implemented across ten different locations in six African countries.
She said in Accra, the focus had been on the fish value chain, but the project’s broader objective was to examine and improve the entire food system.
Dr Sell said within the HFA project, they had multiple cases across different countries, each focusing on locally relevant issues, and that these cases were built upon existing initiatives and work to enhance and improve established systems with a history of local engagement.
She added that as coordinators of the overall project, they strived to consolidate the insights gained from each unique context and analyse them from a systems perspective to understand how the various components interconnect and contribute to the larger framework.
Dr. Mrs. Amy Atter, Senior Research Scientist, CSIR – FRI, said the HFA project develo
ped 46 novel food?products.
She said however, the project registered seven of these?products with the Foods and Drugs Authority for 10 selected SMEs.
Dr Atter said the project improved CSIR-FRI’s capacity to train in?value-added fish products for Ghanaian fish farmers, helping them to minimise waste and over maturing of farmed fish.
She urged SMEs to contact CSIR-FRI to adopt these products and technologies through available training.
During the workshop, the beneficiaries exhibited their products, which were already available in Ghana.
Source: Ghana News Agency