"I have farmed catfish since November 2007. I started with 100 seed (baby catfish) using my own capital. Those catfish made good money for my family," says Sola Gratia Ratu Edo, who is better known as 'Om Adi'.

Living in Tode Kisar Subdistrict of Kupang Municipality in Indonesia's Nusa Tenggara Timur Province, Om Adi has worked with FAO's Regional Fisheries Livelihoods Programme (RFLP) to improve his catfish farming skills. He farmed the fish in his backyard, in several purpose-built small ponds.

Om Adi's first encounter with RFLP came about by pure coincidence. He was helping build a house for an officer of the Marine Affairs Agency (DKP) in Kupang DKP. The officer found out that Om Adi was interested in catfish farming and asked him if he wanted to join the RFLP supported training.

"I decided by myself to go into the catfish business. Although my name was actually listed by DKP Kupang as a catfish farmer, I had never received any assistance," he said. In 2011, Om Adi took part in RFLP catfish farming training, which helped increase his knowledge and skills. During the course, he received expert tuition on artificial spawning, catfish seed nursing and feed management.

As part of the course, he also visited a successful catfish farmer in East Java to see firsthand how these skills could be put to use. In addition, Om Adi received basic equipment from RFLP to support his catfish business such as a tarpaulin, water buckets, and catfish seed. He became part of a small network of catfish farmers who are all RFLP beneficiaries. This has helped the farmers provide support to each other and share experiences, both good and bad.

Published: March, 2016
Project: Regional Fisheries Livelihood Programme for South and Southeast Asia (GCP/RAS/237/SPA)