The Consultant made the following observations from his field visits:-
it is obvious that a lot of work has been done in the last ten years, however different levels of production/management of fish farmers was noted, ranging from groups with good production and bank accounts, to a very basic subsistence/hand to mouth production.
the major problem seen in the field is lack of proper book-keeping records at farmers ponds and even at the FPC's which apply general LBDA book-keeping records, and are not appropriate for fishculture evaluation and records.
the Project has never addressed fry production at high altitude areas and several Fish Farmerswere met who did not understand why they cannot produce enough Tilapia fingerlings.
farmers have complained of lack of proper fingerlings transport techniques/equipment, and this had not been properly addressed.
the Project has few good high standard equipment but no proper simple field equipment for farmers and extensionists to use for water analysis, site prospection, pond construction.
the farmers are very dependent on the extension service however some farmers were observed who could give advice to the others. This knowledgable group should be increased and equipped for this job.
Clarias is obviously very acceptable in this area. A few farmers were seen who can produce clarias fry but very few survivedand proper information on Clarias fry requirements was not available. Feeding and husbandry/handling should be improved with: the introduction of Omena/shrimps as feed, protected ponds and efficient siltation systems.
all fish farmers produce tilapia fingerlings but some fingerlings were of poor quality and this should be checked. The farmers have been making a backward selection for tilapia, by keeping the smallest and selling biggest. This is a big mistake: it is necessary to change this trend and educate the farmers properly.
some advanced fish farmers groups have identified good fish feeds ingredients at low cost to be used for their own fish or to be sold to other farmers.
Shallow depth of the majority of ponds in the areas should be corrected (even in the FPCs where a maximum depth of 1m is rarely observed). Also most are supplied by springs (71% in Appendix 3) which are more cold and less oxygened than rivers, and have uncontrolled flow into the ponds.
A high percentage of the ponds visited were located in valley- bottom. This is a failure of training on the part of the farmers because there is risk of overflooding.
an impromptu market study provided important information on size availability/preference and the pricing structure of fishculture products. The sale of different sizes of fish mixed together in a 2 Kg tin at Kshs. 150 was a good innovation in one Western market but was not observed anywhere else. This showed that exchange of information between farmers is very limited and should be encouraged.
it was observed that fish of 250 g gained a better priced per kilo and the fish above 1 kg each were significantly lower in price. Therefore, it is not profitable to produce bigger fish than 250 g. That is why polyculture with Clarias is probably the most practical technics to be extended, both to produce Tilapia table size and to encourage fishfarmers in practising regular complete harvest.
a lot of farmers requires more training on various fishfarming aspects. Others have also requested to be trained again despite previous courses.
we met several fish farmers association officially recognized as fish farmer “group” at district level including women fish farmers groups and youth groups very enthusiastic for fishculture activities. Some of them started self helping for fingerlings exchange, feed and credit facilities and it must be encouraged with appropriate extension methods and training facilities within these groups.
