Gombe community where fish farming makes people millionaires - NAN survey
Some residents of Dadin Kowa community in Yamaltu-Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State are making profits in millions through fish farming, a survey by the newsmen reveals.
In separate interviews with newsmen in Dadin Kowa community on Tuesday, the farmers said availability of water supply all-year round had made the community a hub for fish farming.
Mr Sani Hashimu, a 43-year-old farmer said he became a millionaire through fish farming since he ventured into the agribusiness some five years ago.
Hashimu said he begun the vocation with just a fish pond but gradually expanded to two with one pond having 3,000 fish capacity, while the other houses about 2,000 fishes.
He said he harvested fish from his ponds twice a year and all things being equal he earned N2 million profit from both ponds.
“I have never made money like I make from fish farming; in fact I became a millionaire through fish farming.
“This business of keeping fishes and selling them when they are matured is really good and has better returns on investment than other aspects of farming,” he said.
For Mr Ezra Amos, a 73-year-old retiree from Dadin Kowa community said he raked in millions of naira from fish farming from the comfort of his house where the fish farm is situated.
Amos, who had been in the agribusiness for 12 years now, said fish farming was helping him live a good life after retirement, adding that he made good profit from the vocation yearly.
He said that he realised over N3 million from fish farming in 2020 but noted that the business was now more expensive to run because of high cost of feeds.
He said his investment in agriculture was paying him more than when he was in service, adding that he had no regrets whatsoever that he was now a fish farmer.
Amos said that there were areas within fish farming that a farmer could invest and make his or her profit.
According to him, a farmer can engage in hatching and selling fingerlings which according to him is more lucrative than selling matured fishes considering the high cost of feeds.
He said with the kind of money he was making from fish farming, he would not take up any job by the government that paid over N100, 000 monthly.
“I won’t accept it because there is more money here,’’ he said.
Also, Mr Adamu Mahmuda, a staff of Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in Gombe State said that he earned over N1 million from fish farming in 2023.
Mahmuda, who said civil servants could earn additional money through agriculture, said he established his fish farm two years ago with N300,000.
He said he had expanded the vocation and had started making his profits in millions annually.
He described fish farming as more profitable than salary-paying jobs if one invested in the agribusiness.
“This fish farming is more than any salary if you invest well and acquire the right knowledge.
“You will never regret venturing into the vocation.
“My annual profit for now is more than N1million and I am just two years old in the business and just operating on a small scale, being a civil servant.”
For Mr Daniel Maji, another civil servant with Federal College of Horticulture, Dadin Kowa, who has been in the community since 1982 where he got his primary education, said the community had become a fishing hub.
He said before now, many of the farmers depended on local fishing from the river but with time and advancement in technology, many of them turned to digging fish ponds even in their compound.
Maji, who said within the last five years, there had been increasing number of residents going into fish farming, urged the government to invest more in the sector to empower youths in the state.
Supreme News reports that Dadin Kowa community is about 42 kilometres from Combe metropolis and the community houses the Dadin Kowa Multipurpose Dam which generates 40 megawatts of electricity.
The water treatment plant which supplied drinkable water to residents of Gombe metropolis and environs with nearly 40 million litres daily is located in Dadin Kowa.
