Fish farmers brace for EAC market

Jul 21, 2010

FISH FARMERS are bracing themselves to serve a bigger East African Community (EAC) market which comes with a unified area of 1.8 million square kilometres, with agricultural produce and livestock.

By Titus Kakembo

FISH FARMERS are bracing themselves to serve a bigger East African Community (EAC) market which comes with a unified area of 1.8 million square kilometres, with agricultural produce and livestock.

Braced for the booming business the EAC promises, Hajji Yusuf Muyunga of Masaka has stocked 20,000 fishlings in five ponds stocked with 4000 fish each.

Muyunga is the chairman of Kingo Fish Farmers Association, which has 420 members.

“We have customers coming from Southern Sudan, Rwanda and the DR Congo for fish,” the hajji reveals.

“Unlike the locals who bargain to purchase at sh1800, the foreigners want each fish weighing 2kg at sh2500” says Muyunga.

He adds: “Mine is one of the 400 ponds in Masaka stocked with metric tonnes of fingerlings which we buy from the NARO centre at Kajjansi due to lack of Tilapia fingerlings or fish seed production capacity in the region.”

Muyunga uses inexpensive and readily available materials such as an above-the-ground pool to get fresh fish. At his rotund grass thatched reception centre at the farm, he teaches a class of potential fish farmers.

“You too can grow your fish in your back yard. You can achieve a higher level of self-sufficiency and provide a healthier diet for your family. It is as practical as gardening for producing food for the family,” says Muyunga

Muyunga further explains backyard aquaculture to the farmers, outlining lans and step-by-step instructions that can help any one to successfully raise fish. The methods sound so simple that he leaves every listener thinking, “Hey, I can do that.”

In the recent past, fishing has had a bad reputation as stocks are being depleted and the activity requiring significant amounts of water and energy. But in contrast, Muyunga’s style blends safe yet old cultural fishing practices with modern techniques which use minimum energy and water.
Muyunga says there are several similarities between gardening and fish farming.

“I have discovered both need food and warmth. Just as some plants favour different seasons, there are fish that love heat while others, cold conditions.” He adds that, fish and plants both require regular maintenance. “You can’t scatter a handful of seeds or sprinkle a few fingerlings in a pond, then expect a bumper harvest.”

Muyunga advises farmers starting out in fish farming to start small, on not more than 100 fish. Once one masters a few basics, Muyunga adds, they can then raise several species of fish in tanks, indoors or out, throughout the year.

Done away with inherited archaic fishing methods, thanks to World Vision and Med Net facilitation, Muyunga stocks catfish, Nile Perch and tilapia.

“Tilapia tastes great and is one of the easiest fish to raise. It tolerates a wide variety of water conditions, including low oxygen levels and high concentrations of ammonia. They are resistant to diseases and parasites.”

Muyunga adds that tilapia grow quickly under proper conditions such as water temperatures of 64 to 90 degrees, 84 degrees being optimal. Water temperatures less than 50 degrees are fatal, he advises.

This makes tilapia the best species for backyard fish farming. Catfish on the otherhand, have an exceptional taste and are resistant to diseases, Muyunga discloses. These make the species a good choice for fish farmers who are new to the business. They grow quickly and reach one kilogram within five months.

The fingerlings are often bought and transported in drums from Kajjansi to the different sites in Masaka by road.

To solve the water problem, Muyunga has constructed a water tank with a capacity of 20,000 litres. He also harvests rain water and stores in a huge tank.

Cage culture, is a type of aquaculture method which provides the simplest means of growing fish if one has access to a pond. Muyunga estimates a cage system could be built for about sh200,000. The only cost is for cage materials, fish and feeds.

In this system, a cage or pen made of plastic pipe and rigid netting is moored in any suitable body of water. It may be a pond, lake or a stream stocked with fingerlings that are fed until they reach a harvestable size.

Talk about a jack of all trades and Mayunga fits the bill perfectly when he reveals his other business interests.
“I am also operating a poultry business. Because it is tedious, I outsource 500 birds which I supply to supermarkets and big hotels in Masaka town,” he says.

He also has a contract to supply 500,000 chicken per week and has to outsource them from other farmers. He then sells them at sh10,000 each. In addition, Muyunga sells atleast eight bunches of banana worth sh5000 each at farm gate daily. Bananas earn him sh280,000 a week.
He further discloses: “My two cows give eight litres of milk while their urine and dung is good for manure which enriches the soils. This supplements the diet of my family members while I sell the surplus.”

Muyunga says he intends to stock more chicken and use their waste as fish food. For now, he is looking for funds to buy a solar system to light the ponds and protect them from thieves.

“The light also speeds up their growth because they eat day and night,” Muyunga says.

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