Arua’s Obedmoth swimming in fish money
Sep 27, 2011
My Way: Alfred Obedmoth ALFRED Obedmoth, 45, voluntarily retired in 2005 after 15 years of diligent civil service. “The civil service job was just a hand-to-mouth thing; I was dissatisfied so I chose to retire early,†he said.
By Richard Drasimaku
My Way: Alfred Obedmoth ALFRED Obedmoth, 45, voluntarily retired in 2005 after 15 years of diligent civil service. “The civil service job was just a hand-to-mouth thing; I was dissatisfied so I chose to retire early,†he said.
He felt the sh200,000 monthly salary he earned as a sub-accountant in Arua district was not helping him develop personally.
When his retirement benefits arrived three years later, he purchased three acres of land and began fish farming.
Obedmoth’s aquaculture project has not only grown in size but has made him Arua’s leading fish farmer and his project, a point of reference for those seeking to venture into the same activity. Farmers, researchers and school children periodically flock there to expand their stockpile of knowledge.
Today, Obedmoth’s farm, which is located six miles from Arua town in Tiavu village, Ombokoro parish in Manibe subcounty presents spectacular scenery of large fish ponds, nursery ponds and holding tanks.
Beautifying the surrounding areas are plots of vegetables, fruit crops, rice, banana plantation, eucalyptus and apiary.
“Certainly, I have reached a stage of no return,†the farmer says, sighing with much relief.
How he started
Obedmoth began fish farming with six small ponds in 2008.
These were mainly to raise fish to meet his family’s diet needs.
As an accountant, he lacked the necessary knowledge on fish farming but still, he gambled with determination.
After one year of successful breeding, he found that his ponds were not enough to accommodate the number of fish that had now multiplied.
This prompted him to sell the excess fish in the local markets of Oluodri and Arua town.
Eventually he was identified as a model farmer under the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) programme which then supported him.
Obedmoth received sh2m worth of assistance in form of 10 bags of fish feeds, 400 mirror carp fish fries, 1,700 catfish fries, water pipes, a wheel barrow, spades and lime for de-worming the ponds. He enlisted the technical support of friends from National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) and Arua district fisheries department, to help him in pond construction and water quality management. He merged the small ponds into four big ones, averaging 20m x 30m in size. He also dug 11 nursery ponds of 10m x 15m each plus four holding tanks. Fish takes one year to mature, a period during which you must suppress your cravings otherwise you will harvest all of them before they mature. This is what Obedmoth religiously did and in 2010 when he harvested his first big harvest output, and received sh9m from sales. His first reaction was to pursue further education especially in aquaculture to beef up his diploma in business studies. A timely opportunity came up for Obedmoth to undertake a two-week certificate training in aquaculture management and food processing at Makerere University.
Developing the farm
With more knowledge and experience, Obedmoth soon turned into an expert in fish farming and began training and offering consultancy services to farmers.
These pay him consultancy fee and gate fee when they visit his farm. He assembled a low cost hatchery using a large bowl, a jerry can for hot water and an inner tube of a motor vehicle through which fresh air is pumped.
Using this equipment, Obedmoth breeds thousands of fish fry which he sells at sh300 each and uses some to restock his ponds.
He surprised people by stocking 10,000 tilapia fish when many officials had been claiming that tilapia does poorly in the region. Last November, he also stocked 2,000 mirror carps and brood stock catfish.
“The harvest has begun and will intensify next month, he says. Obedmoth expects to fetch sh50m this year from the sale of fresh fish alone.
He sells fresh fish at the market price which currently is sh7,000 a kilo at Arua’s main market.
Fish fry have already brought him sh2.2m this year.
Obedmoth also used some of the profits from his first harvest to diversify his farming activities.
As a result of his activities, he is expecting more income: sh2m from honey, sh1.5m from banana, sh300,000 from wood fuel, seedlings and vegetables including okra, egg plant, and nakati .
In addition, Obedmoth has registered his farm as a community-based organisation called Eco-Mungusi fish farming project and is rigorously training 20 groups of fish farmers.
The farmers pay sh10,000 as membership fee to him but continue to operate autonomously.
The idea is to have many good performing farmers in order to increase fish production and form a cooperative organisation to control fish markets in the region.
His success tips
Obedmoth’s farming thrives on sheer resilience and keen attention.
He constantly supervises his three permanent employees to ensure the area surroundings the ponds is very clean, the farm is well guarded and that the hatchery is closely monitored.
He understands that good hygiene keeps away predators like the water monitor, birds and snakes.
He also makes sure the nursery ponds are free of frogs which prey on the fish fry.
And because catfish behave like crocodiles at night, leaving the ponds to graze on land, Obedmoth has created earthybanks to prevent them from fleeing into the nearby swamp.
He regularly tests the quality of the water in the ponds and fertilises it with cow dung.
His fish feed on a balanced diet consisting of protein feeds from Ugachick and ground maize grains and millet residue from malwa (a local brew) for carbohydrates and other food values.
In addition, Obedmoth follows a strict code of financial discipline and keeps records of all income and expenditure.
He annually invites auditors from Arua district audit department to audit his boo
My Way: Alfred Obedmoth ALFRED Obedmoth, 45, voluntarily retired in 2005 after 15 years of diligent civil service. “The civil service job was just a hand-to-mouth thing; I was dissatisfied so I chose to retire early,†he said.
He felt the sh200,000 monthly salary he earned as a sub-accountant in Arua district was not helping him develop personally.
When his retirement benefits arrived three years later, he purchased three acres of land and began fish farming.
Obedmoth’s aquaculture project has not only grown in size but has made him Arua’s leading fish farmer and his project, a point of reference for those seeking to venture into the same activity. Farmers, researchers and school children periodically flock there to expand their stockpile of knowledge.
Today, Obedmoth’s farm, which is located six miles from Arua town in Tiavu village, Ombokoro parish in Manibe subcounty presents spectacular scenery of large fish ponds, nursery ponds and holding tanks.
Beautifying the surrounding areas are plots of vegetables, fruit crops, rice, banana plantation, eucalyptus and apiary.
“Certainly, I have reached a stage of no return,†the farmer says, sighing with much relief.
How he started
Obedmoth began fish farming with six small ponds in 2008.
These were mainly to raise fish to meet his family’s diet needs.
As an accountant, he lacked the necessary knowledge on fish farming but still, he gambled with determination.
After one year of successful breeding, he found that his ponds were not enough to accommodate the number of fish that had now multiplied.
This prompted him to sell the excess fish in the local markets of Oluodri and Arua town.
Eventually he was identified as a model farmer under the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) programme which then supported him.
Obedmoth received sh2m worth of assistance in form of 10 bags of fish feeds, 400 mirror carp fish fries, 1,700 catfish fries, water pipes, a wheel barrow, spades and lime for de-worming the ponds. He enlisted the technical support of friends from National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) and Arua district fisheries department, to help him in pond construction and water quality management. He merged the small ponds into four big ones, averaging 20m x 30m in size. He also dug 11 nursery ponds of 10m x 15m each plus four holding tanks. Fish takes one year to mature, a period during which you must suppress your cravings otherwise you will harvest all of them before they mature. This is what Obedmoth religiously did and in 2010 when he harvested his first big harvest output, and received sh9m from sales. His first reaction was to pursue further education especially in aquaculture to beef up his diploma in business studies. A timely opportunity came up for Obedmoth to undertake a two-week certificate training in aquaculture management and food processing at Makerere University.
Developing the farm
With more knowledge and experience, Obedmoth soon turned into an expert in fish farming and began training and offering consultancy services to farmers.
These pay him consultancy fee and gate fee when they visit his farm. He assembled a low cost hatchery using a large bowl, a jerry can for hot water and an inner tube of a motor vehicle through which fresh air is pumped.
Using this equipment, Obedmoth breeds thousands of fish fry which he sells at sh300 each and uses some to restock his ponds.
He surprised people by stocking 10,000 tilapia fish when many officials had been claiming that tilapia does poorly in the region. Last November, he also stocked 2,000 mirror carps and brood stock catfish.
“The harvest has begun and will intensify next month, he says. Obedmoth expects to fetch sh50m this year from the sale of fresh fish alone.
He sells fresh fish at the market price which currently is sh7,000 a kilo at Arua’s main market.
Fish fry have already brought him sh2.2m this year.
Obedmoth also used some of the profits from his first harvest to diversify his farming activities.
As a result of his activities, he is expecting more income: sh2m from honey, sh1.5m from banana, sh300,000 from wood fuel, seedlings and vegetables including okra, egg plant, and nakati .
In addition, Obedmoth has registered his farm as a community-based organisation called Eco-Mungusi fish farming project and is rigorously training 20 groups of fish farmers.
The farmers pay sh10,000 as membership fee to him but continue to operate autonomously.
The idea is to have many good performing farmers in order to increase fish production and form a cooperative organisation to control fish markets in the region.
His success tips
Obedmoth’s farming thrives on sheer resilience and keen attention.
He constantly supervises his three permanent employees to ensure the area surroundings the ponds is very clean, the farm is well guarded and that the hatchery is closely monitored.
He understands that good hygiene keeps away predators like the water monitor, birds and snakes.
He also makes sure the nursery ponds are free of frogs which prey on the fish fry.
And because catfish behave like crocodiles at night, leaving the ponds to graze on land, Obedmoth has created earthybanks to prevent them from fleeing into the nearby swamp.
He regularly tests the quality of the water in the ponds and fertilises it with cow dung.
His fish feed on a balanced diet consisting of protein feeds from Ugachick and ground maize grains and millet residue from malwa (a local brew) for carbohydrates and other food values.
In addition, Obedmoth follows a strict code of financial discipline and keeps records of all income and expenditure.
He annually invites auditors from Arua district audit department to audit his boo