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Obert Chifamba Agri-Insight

THE origins of the proverb — “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day but teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” may not be traceable but its message is loud and clear.

It is always more sustainable to capacitate people to take care of their needs than to give them aid every time they are in distress.

It is on the backdrop of this understanding that the Second Republic is pulling out all stops to ensure it equips citizens with requisite skills and resources to take care of their immediate socio-economic concerns and not always wait for a helping hand.

My offering today will seek to demonstrate how the Second Republic is actualising the proverb to take care of food security matters while addressing economic issues all at one go.

The fisheries programme Government is rolling out countrywide is an enactment of the proverb introduced in the introductory paragraph but is coming as a complete package with the fish, a fishing management training and the water bodies to host the projects (ponds and dams).

Essentially, the Government’s programme is meant to set farmers up for the successful running of lucrative fishing projects especially after it giving them fingerlings, training and enhanced access to water bodies.

This move by the Government is aimed at ensuring continuity and that the programme do not fold up because of poor management practices.

This entails making sure the benefiting farmers are capacitated to run the ponds or dams viably making sure they do not to give fish excess food or let fallen leaves and other gunk decay in ponds, creating ammonia.

Fish must not be given more food than they will eat in a few minutes. Organic matter should also be removed from the pond although this is difficult to do in a dam.

The success of the programme, will hinge on the farmers’ ability to realise that fish play a crucial role in their ponds’ ecosystems by eating mosquito larvae and other nuisance bugs that seek to make the pond their home.

Fish cam be fed once a day during the warm months and can stay happy for a few days or even longer by snacking on the bugs and plants in the pond if the farmer forgets to feed them.

This makes fish farming an easy project that can easily generate an income for the farmer without him fretting too much over what they need. Naturally, fish just need a place to swim, some food to eat and a little attention during seasonal transitions to help them deal with changing temperatures.

Once the project is up and running, the farmer just needs to ensure the pond or dam is managed properly.

A net can be installed over the pond to keep out falling leaves with management committees being set up to oversee the maintenance of dams where the project is being done.

The management committees may need to ensure there are artificial caves in the water body to give fish hiding spots from predators that may want to feast on them.

They may even install scarecrows or similar motion-activated devices that scare off approaching animals from coming to the pond.

To maintain fish stocks, farmers will need to avoid overfishing and bycatch through fisheries management. Managing fish populations is no easy task and takes the full cooperation of communities at all levels.

It will also be crucial to use fishing rates that do not deplete the fish population or damage the ecosystem. This involves using techniques less harmful to fish and their habitats and also aim to protect fish stocks, marine habitats, and the livelihood of the people who depend on them.

Rod-and-reel fishing results in less bycatch because non-targeted species can be released immediately. Additionally, only one fish is caught at a time, preventing overfishing. For commercial fishers, rod-and reel-fishing is a more sustainable alternative to long lining.

In the past, people have traditionally used fishing practices that simultaneously harvested and maintained fish populations. These methods can still work effectively even today.

Unsustainable fishing practices include overfishing, bycatch, illegal and destructive fishing methods that trigger a decline in fish populations.

Fishers must always consider using more species-specific and size-selective methods that allow them to release unwanted catches quickly.

This generally consists of a fishing line with one or more baited hooks.

One of the most sustainable fishing practices involves restricting fishing areas, which helps preserve the fish population.

For instance, if a fishery is close to extinction or near threatened, the best option is to give the stock enough time to rebuild.

Dam or pond owners can create marine protected areas and fully or partially close the fishing areas to enable fish stocks to recover.

Timing of the fishing activities is also essential when fishing sustainably.

One way to help reduce the impact of overfishing is to fish during a specific time of the year.

In this case, harvesting occurs when fish are most abundant ensuring that only the large fish are targeted.

This means that spawning and juvenile fish stocks will be safe. One other way of addressing overfishing is by setting limits on the number of fish per catch and have that rule observed religiously.

Sustainable fishing also reduces pollution and improves the quantity of fish in water bodies, which ensures that fishing remains a viable industry for generations to come.

The long and short of my argument is that no one must be allowed to use anything in the class of mosquito nets that trap everything in their path to the extent of exterminating the breeding stock.

Obviously, no one wants to wake up to the news that some or all of the water bodies that had been stocked with fingerlings would have run out of the precious commodity.

It is refreshing to note that Government is killing more than one bird with one stone.

After constructing dams or fish ponds in areas where there would have been none, it is proceeding to train user on managing them.

It has made it a requirement for all the two boreholes being drilled per irrigation scheme across the country to be accompanied by a fish pond.

By so doing, Government is making sure no one and no place is left behind both in terms of food security and economic advancement as the country marches towards attaining Vision 2030 of attaining an upper middle income economy.

The programme will also cultivate a sense of ownership for the programme among farmers, which is the tonic for the successful implementation of such projects.

Government has since designated agriculture as a source of economic empowerment for citizens and this farming discipline comes as a sure and easy way for achieving the agenda using minimal resources.