Development
Circle of
life
Remote communities are learning to adopt an aquaculture method that is good for them and for the environment BY ROBERT OUTRAM
G
ive a person a fish, the proverb goes, and they can feed their family for a day. Teach them to fish, and you have fed them for life. US-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) World Neighbors takes the proverb a step further: “Teach that person to farm fish and you have helped them not only to feed their family, but generate enough income to invest in their future and that of their children.” World Neighbors is helping people in locations as diverse as Peru, Haiti and East Africa to develop fish farming on a small scale – and to do it in a way that minimises their initial outlay and the impact on the environment. Its projects are examples of the “circular economy” in action that wealthier societies could learn from. The NGO was founded in 1951 and works around the world with very poor, often remote, rural communities. Chief Executive Kate Schecter says: “The main principle is that we believe people are capable of helping themselves, given the opportunity. Even very poor people, once they have the tools and the knowledge, can save money on their own and invest it in their own wellbeing, on many different levels.” In Peru, the charity is working with remote communities in the Andes, where the seasons alternate between heavy rain and long dry periods. Lionel Vigil, World Neighbors’ Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, explains: “Traditionally, there are six months of heavy
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Above: Fish farm, Kenya Opposite: Fish farm in Peru
rain and a six-month dry season. With climate change, it’s more like a wet season of only three months, and farmers were asking us about ways to save water for the community.” Fish ponds provided an answer, not only for water storage but for a new revenue source. First, rainwater is captured using zinc tanks and plastic gutters, and stored in ponds lined with plastic. The ponds are used to grow freshwater fish – mainly trout, in the Andes – with fingerlings bought from Ayacucho, a city in the region. Fishmeal, normally the biggest expense for small-scale fish farmers, is provided using a sustainable process that makes use of food waste. Food leftovers and vegetable leaves are composted with black soldier fly larvae. The larvae feed on the waste and also produce enzymes that kill off harmful bacteria. Once the larvae enter the pupal stage, they are collected, dehydrated – using a solar dehydrator – then crushed and separated into protein and oil. This
www.fishfarmermagazine.com
11/01/2021 15:37:11
