Lilongwe, Malawi … In the spring of 2022 Jan Dean, a specialist in fish farming, and Richard Stephens, of the Malawi Project (MP), traveled to the country for a fact-finding trip about fish farming possibilities. The focus was to evaluate if creating several fish farms as examples of what can be done by small-scale farmers, was feasible.
Malawi is well known for having the 12th largest freshwater lake, (5th largest in Africa), and the most extensive variety of freshwater fish in the world. However, despite these impressive facts, the absence of adequate cold storage and reliable transportation has left most of Malawi with a lack of fish and fish protein in their diets. Dean and Stephens were seeking answers to creating cage fishing that would allow local villages to become consumers and purveyors of fish to local markets.
Initial evaluations proved promising, and the team from America, as well as officials with Action for Progress (AfP) felt initial contacts were proving encouraging. However, later efforts slowed and became somewhat cumbersome. Eventually, they ground to a halt and AfP turned to the National Aquaculture Centre (NAC) in the southern city of Zomba for help. This put the program back on a fast track, as the NAC is the largest fish farm program in the nation, and mother to the rest of them. With help from the MP and NAC, the fish pens were recently constructed and placed in a large reservoir north of the Mponela Trading Center in Chandiwo Village. Next will come the stocking of fingerlings, and raising fish successfully. AfP will then use this example to encourage the establishment of other sites around the country. It will be true that if you, “give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”
To support the establishment of other fish farms around Malawi send contributions to: www.malawiproject.org/donate or to Malawi Project, 2421 Golfside Drive, Lebanon, Indiana 46052.