JUBA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan plans to invest in science and technology to boost its vast fisheries and livestock sector which remain underexploited, a government official said on Thursday.
James Janka Duku, minister of livestock and fishery industry said they have already received funding from the Canadian government to help fishing communities around Nimule and Terekeka areas along the River Nile to boost fishing activities with the aim of setting up modern facilities to support preservation before export by 2040.
"In 2016, Canadian government funded for exploitation of fish extending from Nimule to Terekeka and that program is people based, " Duku told journalists in Juba.
The youngest nation has an estimated 500,000 tonnes per annum of fish stocks but lacks modern infrastructure like ovens, processing plants and coolers.
Meanwhile, South Sudan is implementing 28 livestock development projects in a bid to boost quality of the country's untapped livestock resources and begin export by 2040.
There are an estimated 12 million heads of cattle but these have largely remained in the hands of local people and are not commercialized, said Duku.
He disclosed that the government is working with countries in the region to help them set up state-of-the-art livestock research centers to improve export production which will reduce the import bill on beef, hence saving the country foreign exchange.
"Right now I am negotiating with a neighboring country for export of our livestock in beef and we cannot export if we don't have a modern abattoirs certified by international standards," he revealed.
"To produce livestock we need to have identified the genetic distribution of our cattle and this cannot come if we don't have a research center," said the minister.
Duku also noted that South Sudan urgently needs the research center to support it's efforts in identifying the genetic components of it's livestock. Enditem
