Hole in the ground - muddy and bare
A very high proportion of the world's population enjoys eating fish, and a diet rich in fish produces a healthy population. Africa is no exception. So why have Africa's smallscale farmers not embraced the many opportunities offered by integrating fish ponds into their farming systems?
In theory at least, a fish pond produces not only fish for the family to eat and trade but recycles otherwise wasted nutrients to improve soil fertility and subsequent crop production. Unlike wild fish, the fish raised in a pond will usually be closer to hand; they can be harvested at any time; they are the property of the pond owner, and the species raised can be chosen on the basis of taste or marketability. Fish farming gives pond owners control over fish production, something that wild fishing can never do.
In practice fish farming has not developed as those who tried to promote it had hoped. In Uganda, for example, 6,000 fish ponds, all owned by smallholders, yield an estimated - and paltry - 5 tonnes/year. Most pond owners are unable to produce enough fish for home consumption, let alone for sale. Typical of many in West Africa is the pond owner in the NW Province of Cameroon who dug his pond five years ago, encouraged by the wheelbarrow and other tools that were offered by the NGO promoting the enterprise. Not one fish has he harvested in the intervening years. Why?
Individuals have their own perfectly logical reasons for starting and
then abandoning fish farming. Technical reasons for failure are many and
varied. As with any farming enterprise, good management is essential and
advice is often inadequate. Water quality needs careful monitoring.
Disease spreads quickly and is difficult to eradicate. Fingerlings may
be difficult to obtain and transport. Pond owners often find that they
have far too many, very small fish. For example, a pond stocked with 100
small tilapia may, in a few months, be holding not 100 large tilapia but
1,000 small tilapia. Reproduction must be controlled and the fish must
be harvested regularly. Predation is a frequent problem. The main culprits
are otters, birds, snakes and neighbours. Social constraints can be an
equally effective barrier to successful fish farming. Family and neighbours
may become resentful of those prepared to set themselves apart by digging
a fish pond and the effect may be 'redistribution' of the fish, social
ostracism or accusations of witchcraft.
Many studies have been done to try and assess why fish farming has, generally, failed to flourish in sub-Saharan Africa despite the theoretical potential for success. Is there more that development agencies could learn to ensure that they understand the constraints, whether social, cultural, technical, environmental or economic? There probably is and many, even now, are trying to work out the best approach. The difficulty is that the approach itself raises a problem similar to that of Schrödinger's Cat, distorting the possibilities that existed before the approach was made. Unless smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa actually want to integrate fish ponds into their farming systems, no approach, however 'appropriate' will have any long term impact.
