By Isaac Arkoh, GNA
Cape Coast, Dec 15, GNA – The Crop Research Institute (CRI) under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Kumasi has commissioned a 12,000-capacity fishpond to supplement feeding for 1,385 inmates at Ankaful Maximum Prison.
The gesture followed a request by the prison chaplaincy of the Ankaful Maximum Prisons in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem Municipality of the Central Region, through the leadership of the Calvary Charismatic Centre Eagles’ Temple in Cape Coast to the CRI for support.
The state-of-the-art pond, built with a Recirculating Aquaculture Technology, was stocked with 1,000 catfish fingerlings and six months’ feed requirements.
Measuring 14 feet (4.27 metres) in diameter, the facility had been placed under the supervision of 35 trained inmates and prison officers, who had received specialised aquaculture training on fish farming, water quality management, feeding regimes and harvesting techniques.
The first harvest had been projected in six months, aimed at providing protein-rich catfish to augment the facility’s daily meals and for sale on the market to boost its internally generated funds.
The overall objective of the initiative was to tackle persistent challenges in Ghana’s correctional system, including overcrowding and resource shortages that strained food supplies and rehabilitation programmes.
Beyond immediate nutritional benefits, it aimed to empower interested inmates with practical aquaculture skills, fostering their rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
At the handing-over ceremony, Prof Maxwell Darko Asante, Director of CSIR-CRI, stated that by integrating sustainable agriculture into prison operations, they were not just feeding humans but nourishing futures.
He added that the facility represented a statement of dignity and transformation that reflected CRI’s sustainable integrated systems to empower all Ghanaians.
He called for sustainable financing to build the capacity of all prisoners in scientific agriculture for development, enabling them to live meaningful and dignified lives after serving their sentences.
The Deputy Director of Prisons, Joseph Asabre, Central Regional Commander, who was filled with joy, commended CSIR-CRI and CCC, saying the initiative aligned with the “Think Prisons 360 Degrees” drive introduced by the Ghana Prisons Service.
He explained that the forward-looking initiative sought to change the narrative of the country’s prisons from a place of punishment to a space of hope, healing, productivity and national relevance.
Beyond safe custody, he said Ankaful Maximum Prison had been guided by the initiative to serve as a compass for the noble service in the coming years, by bringing out the best in inmates and, in so doing, bringing out the best in prison officers.
He noted that “Think Prisons 360 Degrees” had given Ankaful Maximum Prison a paradigm shift, envisioning prisons not only as places of incarceration but also as spaces of hope, healing, productivity, and national relevance.
The transformation, he said was anchored on rebranding, wealth creation, advocacy, education, welfare, agricultural mechanisation, modernisation, and industrialisation.
To achieve these goals, he called for improved infrastructure, collaboration and sustainable financing mechanisms to empower all inmates and officers.
Smiles of shimmering hope and profound understanding lit up the faces of many inmates as the CRI team masterfully unveiled the boundless benefits and management secrets.
One by one, the inmates fired off razor-sharp questions about fish farming, with many vowing on the spot to plunge into aquaculture upon their release, and obviously captivated by its elegant simplicity that demanded scant skills.
GNA
Edited by Alice Tettey/Christian Akorlie