| Description | Recommendations given to the farmers by the extension service. | |
| Purpose | - | to provide and generate sufficient knowledge on minimum requirements to start, risks involved and expected yields to enable the farmer to decide whether or not to engage in fish farming; |
| - | to adapt the message to on-farm resources and fish farming skills. | |
| Method | The contents of the extension message depends on the goal and target group. The situation analysis provided the framework for the appraisal of the target group. The characteristics of the target groups enabled the extension organisation to develop the extension message and assess how these groups will react. | |
| The project's target group was farmers with meagre resources who could only bear small risks. Therefore, the extension service started with recommendations which did not require extra expenditures. | ||
Generally speaking, the extension message to be conveyed to the small-scale rural farmer should be selected according to its compatibility with:
their available means of production;
their existing farming system;
the values and norms of the community;
the prospective market for fish within reach of the small-scale farmer;
the availability of fish seed;
the sites available for ponds; and
the climatic regime.
Table 7 describes the ‘typical fish farming system’ which suited the situation of the small-scale farmers in the pilot areas, after weighing their resource potential against the constraints they were facing.
In general, aquaculture would be an extensive to semi-intensive activity, which fits into the dominant farming system. Once it has proven to be a valuable activity, has been adopted on a larger scale (and is thus no longer looked upon as an innovation with all the additional risks for the innovators and early adopters) and farmers have gained the knowledge and skills to manage the system, some may want to intensify it. However, the implications for intensification are: higher inputs, higher risks, higher benefits, transport and marketing of the yield. It thus requires another analysis to determine whether this is feasible and sustainable in the prevailing situation.
Table 7: Fish Farming System Suitable for Small-Scale Farmers in Eastern Province, Zambia
| - | Fish raised in earthen ponds, often dug in a dambo area with a slight gradient which means that they are not always completely drainable. |
| - | Lack of capital to hire labour and strategy of reducing risks compels the farmer to dig the pond with his own household during the slack period, using locally available tools. Therefore, the pond area can not be expected to exceed 200 m2. |
| - | Fingerlings of the three spotted bream (Oreochromis andersonii) are available at the Government Fish Farm in the area. This species is generally accepted and appreciated. The climatic conditions, short production cycle and ease of breeding, makes it suitable for pond culture. It is an omnivorous fish which feeds at all water levels in the pond. |
| - | Lack of capital to buy, poor transport and limited availability of commercial fish feed necessitates the farmer to use on-farm products to feed the fish and fertilize the pond. |
| - | Many by-products from the current farming system can be used as inputs, the most important being maize bran to feed the fish and animal manure for composting. Good results of low food conversion ratio and rapid growth have been obtained with these inputs. |
| - | Considering the fish farming system of the small-scale farmer, the yield will not exceed the demand for fish in the area. |
Once the message had been designed, it was important that everyone conveyed the same information to the target group. An example may illustrate this point. In one area, problems were encountered when fish farming was introduced together with an NGO and another donor funded project. Although it was believed that all three parties were using the same approach, it was realized after a while that assistance, other than technical assistance, had been promised to the fish farmers. The conflicting messages sent to the community created confusion and disappointment amongst the farmers. It is thus important that whenever more parties are involved in fish farming in one area, they agree on the approach used and message sent to the target group. Moreover, it is imperative that the decision is agreed upon at all levels concerned, from the extension worker to the director of the organization (who may pay a courtesy visit and make promises whilst in the field).
