Trust continues to encourage people to consume more fish – Fish consumption day launched
The Namibia Fish Consumption Promotion Trust (NFCPT) last week in Walvis Bay launched the National Fish Consumption Day which will be observed next month in Omuthiya.
Chief Executive Officer of the Namibia Fish Consumption Promotion Trust, Victor Pea at the launch said the 8th edition of the day is but one of the initiatives that enable them to contribute towards the governmental objectives to address food and nutritional security, hunger and poverty through improving the quality of education of children.
“This is within the context of ongoing implementation of strategies for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth which, among others, includes the annual day, monthly regional fish Promotions and setting up of retail fish shops in all regions of our country to ensure active representation of our activities and programme,” he added.
Suzan Ndjaleka, Chairperson of the Namibia Fish Consumption Promotion Trust Board of Trustees explained that this event is a collaborative initiative between the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, NFCPT and stakeholders, which was launched in 2012 to promote and accelerate the consumption of fish at regional level.
“The day is a NFCPT initiative aimed at imparting fish knowledge and culinary skills to our people whilst bringing this much needed nutritional fish closer to them,” she added.
While keynote speaker Bernhard Esau, Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, their immediate goal in this financial year is to achieve per capita fish consumption of 20.4 kg per person per year, which translates to about 47 000MT, and to ensure that at least 30% of horse mackerel TAC, or about 110 000 is consumed locally.
“In May this year, we also witnessed the handing of 1387 school mattresses valued at N$478,510 and 12 computers valued at N$221,490 to the Kunene Region, which I facilitated during the commissioning of ‘Operation Sida Di/Goan’ at Kamajab, therefore this gesture is indeed a demonstration of commitment by stakeholders in the fishing industry to contribute towards the achievement of quality education for our children,” he concluded.
