Fish Farmers Training Program

FISH FARMERS TRAINING PROGRAM

ROTARY CLUBS OF WHITEHORSE, YUKON; CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA and KAKAMEGA, KENYA

APRIL SUMMARY REPORT

HIGHLIGHTS

·  Trained 19 farmers;

·  Provided one day training to 4 women who wanted information on micro-credit, feed and nutrition, record keeping and marketing;

·  Visited 27 ponds from farmers who were trained during the March training period. We assessed each pond and provided important and needed feedback on their improvements and proper construction;

·  Visited two farmers from Week 7 group who had returned home and gathered 8 of their neighbours and encouraged them to construct a pond and begin fish farming. They provided some initial training to the new members and these individuals began constructing their own ponds.

·  Attended 2 Fish Farmers Cooperatives Group Meetings

·  Visited the 8 new farmers to confirm that they had begun pond construction and informed them they would be trained within this month before the program ends;

·  Received large shipments of fish feed and began distributing to all farmers

·  Received visits from 2 Calgary North Rotarians who spent a week with us visiting farmers and sitting in on classroom presentations

·  Traveled to Kisumu to visit feed distributor and check out the nets that had been constructed

·  Lunch with Kisumu Rotarians

April was an extremely busy month. Two Rotarians from the Calgary North Rotary Club visited for a week and we had a lot to show them. We spent 3 days in the field visiting farmers that had come through the training program in the previous weeks, they sat in the classroom for 2 days and we traveled to Kisumu to visit the feed distributor, net supplier and Kisumu Rotary Club.

The following are farmer names and the week they attended, a summary of all the Challenges and Successes and a summary of their evaluation of the training week.

Week 9 – April 11th – 14th, 2011

Gadi Mukosi

Vohana Majohni

Musa Akhonya

Beritah Muchesa

Patrick Wawire

Kennedy Esala

Mary Rapando

Johnathan Wekulo

Esther Ochami

Praxedes Opanda

Jane Omuyaku

Prisca Kulubi

Ayuma Andabwa

Week 10 – April 26th – 29th, 2011

Wycliffe Abuna

Peter Aura

Basil Murunga

Jasina Kadogo

Anjelika Shikhuyu

Nebert Kegode

Elphas Bukhala

Gladys Inyende

Aggrey Nakhal

Catherine Isiaho

Successes:

·  No successes yet because I am still new to fish farming, but I will use what I have learnt here to succeed

·  I have food in my house now for my family

·  I have tried to maintain my fish pond with a good number of tilapia and catfish which I use as a source of food for my family

·  I have once sold fish at a local community show

·  I bought a cow from the money I made fish farming

·  It has helped me pay the school fees for my children

·  It has improved my standard of living so much

·  My ponds have not be stocked fully to determine the success but I will keep good records and have the information in 6 months

·  My success is that I have finished digging my fish pond

Challenges

·  Theft of my fish is a problem

·  I have a lot of water leaking out of my fish pond and I don’t know how to fix and stop it

·  I had an unexpected die-off in my pond and all fish are gone

·  I do not know how to do good maintenance on my pond

·  Where do I get food and how do I feed them; I am not doing it right as my fish are not growing

·  I want to know if my fish are healthy

·  Where can I find a market to sell my fish

·  How do I sample the fish without equipment

·  I lack so many skills

·  I have parasites in my fish and do not know how to get them healthy again

·  I have a lack of knowledge in information in fish farming

·  I lack the proper feeds and quality fry

·  Too many predators – frogs, toads, turtles

·  The labour has been very expensive for me – for example paying the workers and providing them with food while they work

·  The area where my fish pond is, is very muddy and some of the workers fell sick and I had to give them money for medicine

·  I have no fish, feed or nets

·  I have not pipes so cannot get the water fully to my pond

·  Lack of direction, pipes, feed, knowledge, skills. Threats from predators, no proper security, no capital, partnership and motivation. BUT this training has helped me tremendously

·  Mud sliding into the pond from the hill

·  Financial problems; I can’t do it alone

Summary of Farmers Evaluation Forms

Each farmer filled out an evaluation form after their training. Comments included the following:

·  There was so much I did not know, but when I asked the instructors I got the answers

·  Well presented and I learnt a lot

·  I did not know about markets and record keeping, but I realize it is very important

·  I am very happy to get knowledge and I will share it with my family and neighbours