Discussion about entry: Community based fish farming: a public private partnership with great opportunities for mixed farming
This is discussion about Community based fish farming: a public private partnership with great opportunities for mixed farming.
Comments
The idea and the impact seem very impactfull and easy to implement. My challenge here would be to replicate this model for other sources of protein (poultry, pork, beef) or even crops (soy, corn) as different areas may have different yields for fish farming. I really liked the revenue generation potential of this idea, where do you sell the fish you grow? Can these revenues be used to increase the land potential or do you need external funding? If you need external funding, can you use international agriculture financing bodies (IFC, FAO, international development banks, ...)
Dear Moises,
It is easy to couple poultry, bees and pigs into this model. Poultry houses are built above the ponds, hence using the same area. Poultry and pig manure provide very good quality fertilizer for the fish ponds, hence reducing on the cost of feeds. At the same time, there is better use of the labour force because the same person managing the fish ponds will manage the poultry, pigs or bees. The four activities can therefore be easily integrated.
The fish is sold locally at low prices, providing an alternative source of protein to the community, and in hotels in our local town. We started selling the fish at the beginning of 2009, and sales have taken time to pick up. We plan to intensify marketing in 2010 when we can guarantee a steady supply to our customers. At that time we shall also market the fish in the capital, Nairobi.
The revenues can be used to increase the land potential by diversifying into the other activities indicated earlier (poultry, bees, pigs), and opening up more land. This would reduce operating costs dramatically because the infrastructure would be the same.
We need external funding, and because the return on investment is initially low, financing bodies would really help. We had hoped that the funds recently allocated to the sector by government, using our model, would start flowing, but this is not the case.
I hope this answers your questions.
Best wishes,
Joseph
Dear Joseph,
thank you for your responses, they do answer my concerns. I would try to incorporate those in your description as they show a more compelling and diverse case, where you can even make organic fertilizers (reducing use of chemicals, also a major concern in terms of nutrition). As per financing, can you leverage on local bodies more than the government? I don`t know your specific situation, but sometimes small city governments and even local business owners are more likely to participate in social ventures than the government. Not only it takes the government a long time to make decisions, but they may not always be technical. Again, this may not apply to your specific case, but I would think of other ways of financing, the project seems to be very interesting.
Good luck! best regards,
Moises