Aquaculture has always been a small sector in all countries in southern Africa, something that has implications on the development of aquaculture. Staff of the aquaculture sector has few opportunities to discuss developments and ideas with colleagues in their own countries and limited resources to receive information from colleagues outside their home countries. The limited field staff are unable to effectively cover the potential areas in their countries for extension of fish farming. ALCOM addressed these two issues. The first issue was addressed through the dissemination of information, while collaboration with other services was sought to improve extension coverage.
The Programme disseminated information to government staff, extension workers, institutions and policy makers. This information ranged from dissemination of the results and information generated by the pilot projects newly available information from other regions, and facilitation of exchange of information between countries.
The first issue of the newsletter, ALCOM News was produced in March 1988, and since then 26 issues were published. With an average of 20 pages per issue and a distribution of 1000 copies per issue, this newsletter became the most widely read and informative source of information for most staff working in the field of aquaculture and small-scale fisheries in southern Africa.
ALCOM News typically reported on ALCOM's field activities, activities of other projects, programmes and research in the region and on relevant publications from other countries and regions.
Since its inception ALCOM produced 25 Reports and 45 Field Documents and Working Papers. Reports typically reported on the results of completed projects, on technical consultations and on the ALCOM Steering Committee Meetings. Field Documents reported on specific studies and results for specific activities. These reports were distributed widely in the region with batches from 500 to 2000 copies.
ALCOM organised a total of 15 technical consultations seminars and workshops on a wide variety of issues related to aquaculture and fisheries development. These meetings were attended by participants from within and outside the region. Most of these meetings were directly related to specific issues addressed by ALCOM in project activities. Apart from presenting the findings and results of the experiences of ALCOM, participants presented results and findings from their own work. As a result, the project experiences were put into the context of other regional experiences, and ways forward were determined.
Over the years, ALCOM compiled an impressive amount of literature on aquaculture, fisheries, extension, aquatic resources and related developmental fields. This literature, together with other published and unpublished work, was organised in the ALCOM library, which presently holds around 5.000 entries, that are available to users inside and outside the region. It is now considered one of the leading fisheries libraries in the region.
The increasingly numerous requests for the ALCOM publications clearly indicated the impact these reports had on the research community, both in social sciences and in fisheries and aquaculture fields. The ALCOM News newsletter became the only newsletter in the region dealing with small-scale aquaculture and fisheries issues, it is widely known and appreciated and clearly served its purpose of disseminating information.
The technical consultations organised by the Programme acted as forums where regional technical issues related to aquaculture were presented and discussed. For many these consultations were the most important venues where information, views and experiences were exchanged with colleagues from other countries.
Presentations during these consultations gave a good overview of the situation in the region concerning the topics of the meetings. The differences between the presentations on aquaculture development in 1987 and the Technical Consultation on extension methods held in 1995, demonstrate the changes of views over time. The lack of credit facilities, seed production stations, demonstration centres, and provision of inputs to farmers were seen as the main constraints towards the development of aquaculture in 1987. In 1995 the same countries presented new strategies towards aquaculture extension focusing on the facilitating role of extension staff in the decision making processes of farmers, local supply of fish seed, management with locally available materials and spreading information through locally existing media.
This change over time can not only be attributed to the interventions of ALCOM. The political and economic changes in the various countries and the exposure to other programmes and ideas have influenced the thinking of participants. However, the fact that the ideas have changed significantly in the direction of the results and findings obtained by ALCOM projects, leads to the conclusion that its role can not be ignored. Without ALCOM's presence in the region, views on aquaculture development would not have evolved as they did. This general change in attitude towards the development, and appreciation of aquaculture was a significant and important impact of the Programme.
The pilot projects aiming at methodology development resulted in the uptake of fish farming by many farmers, demonstrated the feasibility of fish farming and the possibility for farmers to adopt the technology. In March 1993, ALCOM started activities in Zambia with the objective to strengthen aquaculture extension in three provinces. The Department of Fisheries had limited staff and resources available for extension, and in order to increase impact, collaboration with other extension services was considered essential. Training of agriculture extension staff had to ensure a much wider coverage and a co-ordination of information received by farming households. The technology developed by ALCOM was used as the basis for this training.
A similar approach was followed in Mozambique and Angola, where government staff received formal training in aquaculture. Training courses were given on aquaculture techniques and extension methods. In Mozambique, technicians underwent a training to become trainers of extension workers. In Tanzania, agriculture extension staff stationed in the project area received additional fish farming training.
The integration of aquaculture into the agriculture extension services was not entirely successful. Pilot projects had developed an extension methodology to reach small-holder farmers, which was a combination of extension approach, methods, materials and messages, and which resulted in the adoption of fish farming. It is however not possible to indiscriminately transfer developed extension methods from a project or an organisation to other extension services or institutions. Since the approach is the essence of any organisation, a method has to comply with the approach used within an organisation. A new approach can only be successfully introduced when the whole character of a service can be changed accordingly. The methods developed with the use of a participatory approach in pilot projects, were transferred to other extension services in Zambia and Mozambique that followed the approach of a Training and Visit system, a system that is to a great extent incompatible with a participatory approach (as shown in Chapter 2.1).
Secondly, aquaculture and fisheries activities in most countries were under the authority of a department or ministry other than that responsible for the agriculture extension services. Aquaculture extension was not part of the normal tasks of the extension workers. This created conflicts when agriculture extension staff was requested to assist in the extension of fish farming information. Additionally, the integration was initiated by the Programme or fisheries staff at field and district level, but was not formalised at higher institutional levels.
Although not entirely successful, the output had positive results. Agriculture extension staff effectively transferred the technical message where conditions were similar to those at pilot sites where the technology was developed, and where individual extension workers were interested in fish farming.
Fisheries and agriculture worked closely together in Eastern Province, Zambia and were committed to make the integration a success. The Programme had developed extension messages for farmers in this province, demonstrated the impact of aquaculture extension, fisheries staff had gained sufficient experience and were able to operate as specialists in the extension service. Here the integration of aquaculture and agriculture extension proved effective.
ALCOM demonstrated the need for the integration of extension services, and created awareness for it amongst the member countries. This had now been recognised in the region, and was the main topic of the ALCOM Technical Consultation on Aquaculture Extension. There is, however, still the need to develop mechanisms of determining how the developed methodology can be integrated into existing extension services that use different extension approaches, or how existing services can be altered to adopt the developed methodology.
It was clear that fisheries departments, or equivalent, did not have the means and staff to guarantee a widespread and effective dissemination of aquaculture knowledge. Integration of aquaculture into other extension services, however, required much more than technical training of staff.
Training of staff of other extension services in itself did not accomplish the integration of aquaculture extension into these services. This requires first of all the identification of a suitable technology, and thereafter suitable messages to transfer knowledge. ALCOM developed a methodology for these steps. For further expansion a dedicated mechanism has to be found that is capable to adopt the methodology.
Integration further requires a commitment to the integration at all levels of the services. A commitment that can only be obtained after close collaboration and demonstration of results Visible results initiate support for the development of aquaculture. Direct support to ALCOM's training and extension activities was received by various programmes. Governments provided extra funds for the production of training and extension material, and several organisations and institutes included aquaculture in their programmes.
It remains doubtful whether the existing extension services are adequately equipped to provide farmers with the necessary information. Most agriculture extension services follow the Training and Visit approach, which does not allow for flexible messages for minor crops that are only grown in specific areas. Without additional support to these extension services, aquaculture development is unlikely to spread far beyond the areas where it has already been introduced by the Programme.
Farmer to farmer information exchange occurs and is effective, but in general it does not spread the technology over longer distances. This can only occur when other mechanisms of information dissemination to the small-scale farmers can be identified, and effectively used for the development of innovations. The use of a participatory approach also requires more in-depth technical knowledge at the level of the extension staff. More than is generally available.
