Tilapia Production Ponds
During my Peace Corps service in rural Zambia, I helped establish 1200 square meters of new fish ponds with six different groups, and helped support various farmers with a total of 4500 square meters of existing ponds. Access to fresh fish has greatly bolstered food security in the area, and provided a sustainable source of revenue for farmers.
In Eastern Zambia, most streams and rivers disappear outside of the rain season, making traditional fish ponds difficult to sustain. Instead, we are utilizing the aquifer to fill our ponds by constructing them in areas with a shallow water table.
The ponds have a special graded slope to provide nesting areas and shelter for fingerlings, and to prevent erosion. Acren is pictured helping stake a pond construction site for Rural Roots Farming Cooperative in Kasenengwa District.
For each small pond, roughly 30 cubic meters of soil must be removed. It's a lot of work.
A 10x20 meter pond like this one will produce 400 - 600 mature native tilapia (O. andersonii) every 6 months. The majority of the diet of the fish is comprised of phytoplankton, which is cultured by regularly infusing cow manure into the water. Leaves and waste material from grain milling and cooking oil production are used as supplementary feed.
If you can't beat them, eat them.
Hamerkops and Nile Monitors are often found stealing fish. These species are both listed as IUCN "Least Concern", and their numbers are plentiful. They can severely impact production, so fish farmers eat them too!
