03 Nov 2020

Fish farming is still an untapped market that farmers should explore, says  Assistant Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Ms Beauty Manake.

 Speaking in an interview after touring the fish farm project situated in the outskirts of Samochima,  Okavango Sub-district recently, she said national demand for freshwater fish was high but the country produced only three per cent.

 Ms Manake said fish farming would also help to reduce the national import bill if farmers could tap into it.

  She said farmers could venture into fish farming for generating income adding that the sector had the potential to sustain a farmer nutritionally and economically.

  Ms Manake expressed the hope that the Samochima project would help to meet the national demand.

The project is run by a society and government added the Poverty Eradication Programme component through which four women joined.

The assistant minister said  her ministry intended to bring farmers for benchmarking in order to increase production. 

Ms Manake revealed that government was making efforts to encourage uptake of fish farming projects to increase production especially where there was adequate potable water.

To boost and encourage the fish farming industry, she said government had zoned agricultural land citing the designation of Okavango for fish farming hence the support extended to the Samochima project.

Earlier, the project officer, Mr Solomon Ketsano explained that it was progressing well even though initially it experienced challenges of high mortality rate but stated that the situation had stabilized.

He appealed to the government to consider constructing a fish hatchery in the district to reduce the distance.

He also mentioned that the  project had adopted a fish farming method which consumed a lot of electricity. 

The project boasts 15 ponds with a production capacity of 1 000 fish each while a fish takes 6-8 months to be ready for market, mainly individuals.

 Mr Ketsano informed said the project had adopted multi-integrated farming in an effort to diversify and boost revenue generation. ends