| You
are here: Projects > Micro-Loans and Business > Fish Farming |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Micro-Loans Video |
Fish Farming Due to over-fishing and increased population, fishermen are finding it increasingly difficult to catch fish in Lake Malawi. In the mid 1970s, the average Malawian consumed 14kg of fish a year — today, that figure is less than 4kg — a drastic reduction. We had heard about inland fish farms and, on our last trip, we had a meeting with the head of the Fisheries Department in Nkhata Bay, Stan Banda, and two local fisheries extension workers to find out about this. It would appear that there are charities who are paying for inland fish ponds to be dug and are then providing small fish (fingerings), but that's where the projects seem to end and very few of these are successful. We asked Stan how we could develop a fish farming programme that was successful and, in short, there needs to be ownership of the ponds and a fully integrated approach with proper feeding to provide an environment to grow larger fish which could command higher prices. This money can then be re-invested to develop the programmes. |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
We decided to establish three projects: Project 1 involves four women and four ponds, and Project 2 involves four men and four ponds. These two groups will work in competition with each other to make the most money. The third project, Project 3, comprises a group of 10 fish ponds, and these are owned by a group of individuals but are managed and run on a commercial basis. All three projects are being established on a micro-loan basis, and Alex, the local fisheries extension worker, is working closely with each group to ensure success of the projects. Already, 16 ponds, measuring 20m × 20m × 1m to 1.5m deep, have been dug, and fingerings (small fish) are being introduced. The integrated approach means that we will also be keeping goats, chickens and ducks which, apart from the obvious benefits of meat, eggs, etc., will provide droppings to feed the plankton which will in turn give protein to the fish. There will also be a regime of good quality balanced feeding to promote good fish growth to enable the groups to maximise income. We will obviously have setbacks, but our aim is to have three very successful fish pond projects which can be used as an example for future RIPPLE Africa and other fish pond projects. We will be reporting on progress of this project after our next visit in May/June 2008. We need to raise funds for... |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
