In Yokoniya ALCOM became involved in the fish farming project after it had been initiated, and only with the technical aspects. Through the intervention of Save the Children Federation, a youth club was formed and persuaded of the benefits of the project. Later it became clear that the Save the Children Federation and the Youth Club aimed at objectives different from those of the project. Moreover, the project document said that a considerable sum of money was available to start up the project. Funding and budgeting uncertainties provoked friction.
After a few visits to the Rukuzye dam and the abandoned fish ponds and irrigation scheme, a meeting was arranged with the official leaders and headmen of the surrounding villages to find out why the former IRDP project had been abandoned, and how the villagers intended to use the reservoir. An appointment was made but none of the community leaders came. It was explained that a development meeting of the section was planned for the next day, and ALCOM was invited to attend this meeting. In principle every household would be represented, and for ALCOM's benefit chairmen from several other sections and headmen of surrounding villages were also invited.
The villagers were interested to hear what they could obtain from ALCOM. They had seen other projects and wanted to know if the same kind of assistance could be given by the programme, i.e., loans, cement, fencing wire, etc. At the beginning of the meeting the participants were sceptical about the programme because of their experiences with the fish farming project of IRDP (see Appendix 2). Because ALCOM's first visits to Rukuzye were made to the school and the school ponds, they reiterated that the school should not be treated as more important but that attention should be given to everyone interested in fish farming.
After explaining the programme's approach the participants were enthusiastic, but at a follow-up meeting no one appeared. The reason was that the Ward Chairman did not inform the Chief about this meeting. Without the blessing of the Chief the people felt that they could not take a decision about the project. They also explained that the involvement of the Chief was needed to prevent theft from the fish ponds. The fear was that the same situation as with the IRDP project might arise if the Chief did not intervene. They expected they could produce fish at a lower cost than what they paid fishermen. However, if the Chief were to give his blessings to the project, security would be guaranteed from opponents and thieves.
Together with the Chipangali Ward Chairman, the Chief was contacted and he organized another meeting. This time 65 people came. During the meeting the Chief stimulated the participants to give their views. Apparently they felt free to express themselves and discussed different topics. They repeated that now that the Chief was informed, they could come to a decision and take further steps.
Women also attended these meetings. It is not proper for them to intervene during the meeting; nonetheless, they react in non-verbal ways, e.g. by clapping their hands if they agree with the spokesman. ALCOM solicited their opinions through a brief discussion after the meeting.
Through this approach a large number of people were reached and informed about the project in general. After the last meeting an appointment was made for a slide show to inform more in detail about pond construction and management.
In Magwero area the first contacts were made through the village headmen. In order to assess the interest in fish farming in the area and to determine the role of school fish ponds in spreading information in surrounding communities, interviews were held in some villages. When the topic of fish farming was introduced spontaneous group discussions started under the guidance of the headman. As soon as it was understood that it was possible to build a fish pond with locally available materials they showed interest in having their own ponds. Appointments were made with interested participants to explain in more detail the possibilities for fish farming.
The contribution of ALCOM to the Yokoniya fish farming project started with testing the soil and staking out the pond for digging. It was indicated to the group exactly how deep they should dig at each place, where and how the dikes, outlet and inlet should be built. At least once a week a trip to Yokoniya was made by ALCOM to supervise the work.
Since the quantity of water was limited, it was decided that pipes should be used to guide the water from the spring to the pond. The pipes and inlet structures were installed by ALCOM. For the construction of the pond, tools such as shovels, picks, wheelbarrows, compactors and watering cans were loaned to the group. The members of the youth club did not participate in the planning, their input being labour for the digging. Later it became clear that they believed they would be paid by the SCF for the work they had performed.
The training of the group consisted of showing the FAO filmstrips, ‘La pisciculture rural en images’ (Ivory Coast), on pond construction, feeding and fertilization. The group was also guided around the Chipata Fish Farm. The most important part was the on-the-spot training in pond construction, fertilization and feeding.
From the experiences with the Yokoniya fish farming project, it was decided to focus more on locally available inputs and on self help activities in the Rukuzye and Magwero areas. By doing so it was expected that after the construction of a first pond the people would be convinced that they could build fish ponds without any help from outside. This implied that no tools would be loaned, no surveying equipment and no pipes or cement used, etc. When this was explained the people were reluctant since they had seen other projects providing loans and materials, or sometimes they had seen other fish ponds where cement had been used. They often thought they needed those inputs to start.
After the meetings in Rukuzye and Magwero areas in which the programme and the kind of assistance it could offer was explained, an appointment was made for a slide show. The aim of the slide show was to inform the people in greater detail about pond construction and management.
For the slide show the FAO filmstrips from Ivory Coast were mounted on individual frames and only those slides showing locally available materials and tools were used. Ten slides were selected; the show lasted about one hour. The slides were shown in a suitably darkened building in the village using a battery-powered projector. The women could bring their children to the show. Therefore the problems of distance and child care were minimized. During the slide show, instead of explaining what the viewers were supposed to see, they were asked what they saw and a discussion about the slides followed. Using this procedure constraints to fish farming were identified, so that relevant issues could be discussed.
The viewers asked detailed questions about pond construction, water supply, what to feed the fish, and what kind of authorization was needed to start fish farming. An important aspect was the supply of fingerlings. “Are you going to sell these fish to us? Will those fish reproduce in a pond? How long does it take before they reproduce? Is it possible to use our own fingerlings for the next season?”, were recurring questions. Transport is one of the major constraints, and one of the impediments to increasing agricultural production is the inadequate and untimely supply of inputs (see Appendix 1). The farmers accordingly wanted to be independent from outside services.
In Rukuzye approximately 60 adults attended the first slide show, among whom were eight headmen and about 20 women. In Magwero area, rather than one slide show for the whole area, separate slide shows were organized for each interested village. In Mtemang'ombe village and in Jacobe village some 30 adults were present at each show.
After the slide show, appointments were made with the interested participants to visit their sites. It was left to them to decide whether they wanted to construct an individual or a communal pond. In Rukuzye area three headmen decided to construct a village pond, a women's club and a football club and one woman wanted to have a private pond. The Mtemang'ombe village decided to build a village pond, whereas in Jacobe village four men planned to construct four ponds together so each would have his own.
A complication of communal ponds is that problems arise in organizing the labour and in pond management. The people are well aware of this, yet most of them believe that it is better to have a communal pond. The reason put forward is that the digging is much easier with a group. “When somebody is tired he can relax for a while and talk to the others, while the others still continue working. To do it on your own is like a punishment”. The problem of organizing labour does not only arise for fish farming. In some villages the mutuality of exchange of labour is common; in other villages cooperation is rare (see for example Appendix 2).
The sites for the ponds were always chosen by the farmers. There is a sharp difference between the dry and the rainy season (see Appendix 1) which means that water availability varies throughout the year. This makes it difficult to have a clear idea about water availability if a site is visited only during one season. Since the local people know the places, the situation was always judged from their comments. The advantages and inconveniences of every site were explained, and the final decision on where to build the pond was left to them. Technically not always the best sites were chosen. For a village situated near a dam the area below the dam would be a suitable place to build a fish pond, with the watergate used as the water source. However, none of the villagers wanted to build a pond there arguing that it was far from their houses and that the ground was too hard to dig a pond. Also the fact that they would depend on the use of the watergate seemed to weigh against such sites.
The size of the pond was also determined by the groups/individuals. All wanted to build a small pond for the first year (100–200m2). The explanation given always centred on the fact that all new activities should be taken up on a small scale. If they proved successful they could be expanded later.
The booklets on fish farming from the FAO “Better Farming Series” (FAO, 1978, 1981a, 1981b) give practical information. For a small-scale farmer who has never seen a fish pond it might even be too detailed and confusing. Also the materials shown do not always apply to the situation of the small-scale farmers in Eastern Province in Zambia. Therefore, ALCOM prepared a pamphlet on pond construction using parts of the FAO booklets. This pamphlet consists of four pages and deals with the testing of the soil, digging of the pond and construction of the dikes. It was given to and discussed with the groups so that changes could be made if something was not clear. The groups also received a notebook and were asked to keep a record of the time spent on pond construction. It was explained that by doing so, investment requirements could be calculated.
A similar pamphlet was prepared on fertilization and pamphlets on pond management and harvesting were taken up.
