DILI, 08 august 2022 (TATOLI)—Government’s State Secretariat for Fisheries Affairs and the State Secretariat for Cooperatives has agreed to facilitate fishermen and aquaculture groups to manage aquaculture.
This collaboration began with the signing of the agreement between the two State Secretariats to increase the promotion and development in the field of the cooperative fishery.
The agreement was held in the Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Comooro Dili.
Speaking at the press conference after the signing of the agreement, the Secretary of State for Fisheries Affairs, Elídio de Araújo said, the purpose of this collaboration was to follow the Government’s plan to increase the national fish consumption by 6.1 kilograms in 2023 and will continue to increase to 10 kilograms per year.
In addition, this agreement followed the vision of the State Secretariat for Fisheries to develop the group of fishermen and aquaculture.
“To develop these groups, it is necessary to have a cooperative that will accommodate members of the fisheries groups and the aquaculture groups,” said Araújo.
Araújo added that establishing a cooperative, will change the mentality of the members and provide training on financial management and bring them to access the market.
According to Araujo, currently, his Ministry has recorded 427 aquaculture groups and these groups have received 1,150 fish seeds from the Government.
“To increase fish consumption, action is needed from them. Because, according to the existing data, we have 6,678 fishermen who have formed 1,310 fisherman groups and 427 aquaculture groups,” he said.
The Secretary of State for Cooperatives, Elizário Ferreira welcomed this collaboration and considered the agreement will ensure the groups to be able to have sustainability in the fields of finance, management, and organizational existence.
“One cooperative group must have 15 members and we do this so that fishermen can be more professional and guarantee prosperity for them,” he said.
Ferreira affirmed that SEKoop will facilitate training for each cooperative member group in all territories on education, development, and good management in the near future.
Journalist: Camilo de Sousa
Editor: Nelia B
