When Edy Prasetyo began farming catfish in 2001, he couldn’t have imagined how popular it would become for Indonesian street food culture. Today, grilled-catfish vendors line the streets of Jakarta and other urban centres on the archipelago, catering to city dwellers whose appetite for pecel lele often outruns the supply. 

But like many farmers in West Java province, Edy’s switch to catfish aquaculture came out of necessity. Indramayu district, where he runs his 69 fish ponds, is Indonesia’s number one rice-producing area. Paradoxically, it is also one of West Java’s poorest districts, where many workers are landless and forced to migrate to the capital to find work in between the rice seasons. 

Over time – as climate change has shifted planting and migration patterns— landless workers like Edy started looking for alternative sources of income without leaving their district, leading to a surge in fishpond production about a decade ago.

The fact that catfish don’t require saline coastal ponds makes production less vulnerable to tidal waves than other popular seafood like tiger prawns. But the process is still demanding: “We have to stick to a fixed feeding schedule, including during the night and when it rains,” explains Edy, who is in his mid-40s. “Imagine walking around the ponds in heavy rain and throwing in catfish food. I have 69 ponds – I need at least 10 people to do it.”

To ease Edy’s work and that of other fish farmers in the area, the provincial government and eFishery, a local startup, brought new digital technology to his village of Soge. The automatic fish feeder, in particular, was a success with local aquaculture entrepreneurs. 

Invented at Bandung Institute of Technology in West Java, the feeders can be operated from Android phones with the eFishery app, where fish farmers can set the breed of fish, feeding schedules and the amount of food to drop into the ponds.

The time Edy and his staff save by using the auto-feeders now goes to other aspects of the business, like monitoring pond hygiene and the fish selection process. Edy started with 20 auto-feeders, but he plans to double that number as he expands his business. 

FAO promotes digital innovations to rural communities enabling economic livelihoods, individual wellbeing, and social cohesion. Through its Digital Village Initiative, FAO encourages the collaboration of government, start-ups and farmers to bring new digital technology to rural communities for a more sustainable future. Currently, FAO Indonesia is collaborating with Bogor Agriculture University (IPB ) to assess the rural digitalization landscape and provide actionable plans and recommendations for stakeholders. 

Read the full story on IPS News.