Liberia Aquaculture Assessment

LiberiaAquaculture
Assessment
WithreferencetoGrandGedehandRiverGee
Counties
Karen L. Veverica and Godfrey Woyea 9 January 2012 Cover photo: trial ponds to test rice:fish culture at Douyee Town hatchery, under management of the Ministry of Agriculture. Contents
List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................... 1 Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Historic and current realities of the aquaculture practices in the counties ........................................... 5 Existing infrastructures to support aquaculture development .............................................................. 6 Infrastructure, technical assistance and training needs ......................................................................... 7 Key infrastructure constraints for aquaculture development and solutions to address them .............. 8 Can a vibrant aquaculture industry be developed in the counties and how? ........................................ 9 Opportunities for private sector involvement and development ........................................................ 10 Coordination with other donor agencies and USAID projects .............................................................. 11 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................... 12 Documents consulted ........................................................................................................................... 13 Annex 1: Fish Price summary and template for further data collection ............................................... 17 Annex 2: Other Inputs ........................................................................................................................... 18 Annex 3: Training outline ...................................................................................................................... 19 Annex 4: Water quality checks using test strips and template for further water quality reporting .... 21 Annex 5: Training opportunities for Liberian aquaculture advisors ..................................................... 22 Annex 6: Supplies List ........................................................................................................................... 23 Annex 7: yearly activity plans ............................................................................................................... 24 ListofAbbreviations
ASA: American Soybean Association BNF: Bureau of National Fisheries, is in the Ministry of Agriculture EU: European Union FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations LOIC: Liberia Opportunities Industrialization Center NGO: non‐governmental organization MoA: Ministry of Agriculture OIC: Opportunities Industrialization Center OICI: Opportunities Industrialization Center International UNDP: United Nations Development Program USAID: United States Agency for International Development WISHH: World Initiative for Soy in Human Health, a program operated by the ASA 1 Summary
An aquaculture assessment was conducted from 30 November to 10 December 2011 to provide ASA WISHH with information regarding the feasibility of commercial aquaculture in Liberia, but more specifically, Grand Gedeh and River Gee counties. Godfrey Woyea (ASA/WISHH) and George Poka of the BNF assisted Karen Veverica of the International Center for Aquaculture and Aquatic Environments of Auburn University to conduct this assessment. As in other sectors, aquaculture is regaining some of its previous level of activity following the 15‐
year civil war. Some of the hatcheries that were constructed under supervision of Peace Corps volunteers and funded by the European Union have been put back into production, albeit at a fairly low level of management. Various NGO’s have contributed to the recommencement of aquaculture activities by funding pond construction using food for work programs. About 1,000 farmers are thought to be part‐time active in fish farming. There remain some abandoned large cooperative farms that are said to have large ponds that could be put back into production, but these were not visited. Aquaculture remains very small scale. Current pond construction standards are lower than what they were under Peace Corps; the older ponds look in much better condition than the newly built ponds. The ponds are shallow and levees are not well compacted. Shallow ponds (less than 80cm in most circumstances) will result in lower production than ponds that are 1 to 1.5 meters deep. Water quality is somewhat poor (acid and soft) but can be enhanced to favor natural production by application of lime or ash. Formulated feed is not available and, if it were, would be prohibitively expensive due to the high cost of overland transport. Rice bran is available in the counties and is very inexpensive. If there were more small scale rice mills, the bran would be even more available. Fish prices are high enough in Grand Gedeh and River Gee counties that aquaculture can be a profitable business. However, the farmers lack the capital to invest and are largely dependent on donor programs. It is best to work with few farmers to start, so that examples of profitable fish culture can be demonstrated. Examples of successful small‐scale aquaculture can attract the more independent producers. WISHH has some soybean meal that has passed the expiration date and also generates some waste gari (fermented cassava) at its SuperGari plant. These two ingredients can be combined with some rice bran, hot water added and passed through a meat mincer to form pellets. The pellets sink but are water‐stable. This feed would greatly increase fish production compared to rice bran only. The Douyee Town hatchery just outside Zwedru, in Grand Gedeh county and a few select farmers should benefit from this feed so the revenues generated can be used to pay their workers and, in the case of the private farmers, expand their operations. However, the fledgling aquaculture sector cannot be based upon the presence of expired soybean meal. The default production plan should be based upon rice bran and some leaves as feed inputs. This can generate considerable income for farmers but will require more pond area than a formulated feed‐based management. Local sourcing of ingredients and local sales should be the starting point. 2 The technical staff of all the NGO’s involved in fish culture and the government BNF staff could use a good review course. It should be conducted as a participatory workshop. The workshop would serve to help the BNF coordinate its activities and understand the situation experienced by the various projects. The course should be based at a station (Douyee Town hatchery ), so the participants can witness good feeding response and practice fish handling and transport. The Douyee Town station can immediately begin showing examples of good management and records of profitable fish culture. A training plan and a short list of small equipment, current fish prices, and water quality measurements are presented in annexes. Finally, a 2‐year action plan is presented that focuses mainly on training advisors and farmers and the generation of reliable information upon which to base investment decisions. Indoor installations at Klay Hatchery. A well provides water and an air compressor has been purchased but not yet installed. Klay hatchery is not on the grid so a small generator will be necessary to run the well pump and the compressor. Ponds at Klay hatchery are fairly well kept, especially given the number of people working there (6) and their lack of tools. Some associated animal husbandry is being conducted but the station lacks funds so is not able to care for the animals. 3
Introduction
OIC International (OICI) in conjunction with partners, WISHH, Liberia OIC, Shelter for Life and Malnutrition Matters – has designed and are implementing a five year, integrated food security program called “Liberia Initiative for Food Enrichment (LIFE).” The overall goal of the program is to lower the real costs of food through a value‐chain approach to improved nutrition thereby increasing quality and quantity of food ingested by vulnerable populations, especially children under five and pregnant and lactating women (PLW), and eliminating the current food gap and nutritional deficit through development of complimentary foods and aquaculture development. LIFE’s underlying goal is to build capacity of private sector food industry in Liberia to produce high‐
quality blended cereals (cassava‐based) specifically designed to serve as supplementary foods for young children and pregnant and lactating mothers among food insecure and vulnerable populations of Liberia. LIFE will support the cassava value‐chain by improving production and stimulating demand through value‐added processing. The two main components under the WISHH program are: IR‐1 Increase food availability and food access through improved farming systems, enhanced entrepreneurship, and strengthened market systems These activities center around improving basic staple crop production (rice and cassava, improving post‐harvest storage and food management, crop and livestock diversification, aquaculture, value‐
added processing, entrepreneurship training, market information systems, and small‐scale community infrastructure (feeder roads, bridges, drying slabs, etc.) IR‐2 Improved food utilization through fortified food distribution, better care practices and access to health services, and increased access to water‐sanitation and improved hygiene. WISHH has limited information on the aquaculture situation in the counties and is looking to secure a better insight into the situation. The scope of work requested that we consider the following question: 




What are the historic and current realities of the aquaculture practices in the counties? What are the existing infrastructures to support aquaculture development? What infrastructure, technical assistance and training need to be put in place? What are the potential challenges to be faced and solutions to address them? How can a vibrant aquaculture industry be developed in the counties? This short assessment trip was made to provide answers to these questions and to recommend the follow‐on aquaculture activities. 4 Historicandcurrentrealitiesoftheaquaculturepracticesinthe
counties
Most of the progress in aquaculture dates back to the days of the Peace Corps volunteers; there is some residual local knowledge of pond construction and some understanding of pond management. The only well‐constructed ponds remain from the PC era. Donors such as the European Union have funded construction of fish stations and hired former Peace Corps volunteers to supervise construction. Several donors and NGO’s and other humanitarian agencies have funded aquaculture activities in the past and do so at present. Management back then was based upon the most basic of inputs such as leaves, grasses and anything else available on‐farm and little has changed since. The most pertinent section of the 2007 FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Profile for Liberia says about aquaculture: “It was promoted by the BCADP, NCRADP and LCADP in Bong, Lofa and Nimba Counties, with pre‐war production reaching 29 t. Post‐war production has been boosted by the EU‐
supported hatcheries at Klay (Bomi County), Douyee Town (Grand Gedeh County) and Salayea (Lofa County), which supplied the necessary fish fingerlings to farmers. Production rose from 22 t in 2000 to 38 t in 2004, with Oreochromis niloticus, Tilapia zilli, Clarias sp. and Heterobranchus sp. as the main culture species. The number of fish farmers rose from 350 in 2000 to 1050 part‐time, subsistence farmers in 2004.” Add to this some Heterotis niloticus and Mormyrus spp. as species of interest to the farmers. Some of these are caught wild from the rivers and stocked into production ponds. There is not yet any production data on these two species and very little if any production data from any fish farms. The more recently constructed ponds, built under funding from a variety of NGO’s are not examples of good construction; they are shallow and will have drainage problems. Some are built into the water table. Management level is VERY low; except in the one private pond I saw and the hatchery at Douyee Town, which is now managed by Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) after the community failed to manage the place. Liberia has abundant water resources but the surface water tested was rather low in total alkalinity and total hardness. Although not tested for iron, the water appears to be very high in dissolved iron in many places. Production is moderate and few farmers have production records. However, some of the groups do record what is important to them: number of fish harvested and total sales. Little or no chemical fertilizer is available; some people have access to animal manure; rice bran can be gotten at very low prices. The main inputs used in the ponds visited were rice bran and cassava leaves. The inputs used are described in annex 2. Fish are sold retail by the piece. Market size is about 250 grams and up; the larger fish are preferred but do not necessarily fetch a higher price per kg. Farmers responded that they like the catfish better but when asked which fish they prefer if sizes are the same, they responded that tilapia was preferred. German AgroAction , working thru Welt Hunger Hilfe in Zwedru has been funding people to build fish ponds and plans to continue working along these lines but wishes to move more into individually 5 managed ponds since the group‐owned ponds do not seem to work all that well. George Poka’s time will be spent advising their beneficiaries. If George’s training can be enhanced, this will help GAA and will also help fish farming in the region. The Welt Hunger Hilfe office did not have available the list of ponds and production numbers but offered to share their statistics once they collected them. In fact, the training program described in Annex 3 should be open to all technicians of the NGO’s working in aquaculture. It will be a very good way to bring together the various NGO’s and assist the government in standardizing the “extension package”. There is no national strategic plan but the government is interested in making one. The FAO fishery and aquaculture sector profile provides the latest statistics: from 2005. All fisheries and fish farming is coordinated through the Bureau of National Fisheries, ( BNF), in the Ministry of Agriculture. BNF has a total of 32 staff including those officers in charge of the marine fishery. They admit that the only reliable statistics so far come from marine fishery catches (artisanal; as the foreign fishers probably under‐report). They have no data on imports but expect to start getting some better statistics next year. According to them, table fish sell for about $1.25/kg; this is low compared to the data I collected in Grand Gedeh and River Gee counties but is probably about right for the Monrovia area. There is a problem running hatcheries such as Klay because the revenues enter directly into the Ministry of Finance and it is very difficult to get any funds out of the Ministry. The bureau has 2 main matters of immediate interest: 1. Make a public information campaign on the dangers of fishing with chemicals (this is for the artisanal freshwater fishery) . 2. Do a national frame survey, meaning a total census, on the number and size of fish ponds; as well as collect production data if available. We also met with MoA officers for Grand Gedeh, the staff of River Gee were not in office the 2 days we tried to contact them. The BNF staff members have received training in several countries: Egypt, China, Nigeria, and Iceland, to name a few. The problem remains that there are no funds for operating, according to the staff. This did not seem to deter George Poka at Douyee Town hatchery. Existinginfrastructurestosupportaquaculturedevelopment
Three hatcheries were visited: Klay (Bomi County) , Ganta (Nimba County) and Douyee Town (Grand Gedeh). The hatchery in Lofa County mentioned above was not visited. The MoA hatchery at Klay currently produces very little but has capacity to produce millions of tilapia fingerlings per year. There is a small inside hatchery that can be used for catfish reproduction but it will present problems within a year if installation of the tiles lining the tanks was not properly supervised. The hatchery does own an air compressor (not a blower) but this has not yet been installed. Supply of water to the inside hatchery and operation of the air compressor will require electricity. The hatchery is supposed to get a generator but funds for purchase of fuel and maintenance of the generator do not seem to be on hand; even the 6 workers are not being paid. Pond construction quality is OK and the upkeep of the center is quite good despite the lack of operating funds. There is very little fish culture in the immediate area and prices are low, so this hatchery will best function as a teaching center for the moment. There is a technical training 6 institute next to this hatchery. If the hatchery were to receive an adequate operating budget, it would serve best not only for training but to run some trials on rice:fish culture and on culture of clarias and other species and overall documentation of the economics of fish production using the inputs currently available. Nimba county hatchery, managed by the Ganta Rehabilitation Center and Douyee Town hatchery, just outside Zwedru have no inside facilities with tanks but these are not really necessary. Both centers just need better management advising. They are good places to begin growing fish and documenting economic returns. With the current infrastructure, these hatcheries can produce small amounts of tilapia, and clarias fingerlings. Because demand for fingerlings will be relatively low at first, these hatcheries have sufficient capacity to produce fingerlings for the next few years. As demand increases, installation of some holding tanks may be in order but holding happas can be used in the meantime. The 8 ponds at Fishtown, once renovated and managed, can be a source of tilapia fingerlings for River Gee County. This will help in provision of fingerlings to the surrounding area; transport from Zwedru is rather time consuming, the roads are in very poor condition and nobody has the means to assure good oxygenation of the water during transport. Infrastructure,technicalassistanceandtrainingneeds
Training is the most urgent need and some in‐service training of the BNF staff can be highly beneficial. It can show the BNF staff how to work within their constraints. If they are able to achieve something, they may get the attention of the ministry and therefore additional recognition and support. Any training programs should include slots for up to 5 BNF staff. Their performance after training needs to be tracked, by requiring them to do some small assignments following training. This will require the collaboration of the MoA and the senior staff of the BNF. The BNF should be encouraged to coordinate aquaculture activities and the training proposed herein should be approved by the BNF. As well, because many donors are providing some assistance in aquaculture, it would be best to improve the aquaculture understanding of the various technical advisors these donors have engaged. The supplies listed in Annex 6 should be provided in conjunction with the first workshop to be conducted. An outline for the first workshop is presented in Annex 3 and Annex 7 presents the training plan for the next years. The first year’s supply list is in Annex 6. Training is needed on all aspects of fish farming but most important are: o Inputs, carrying capacity and pond management levels o Selecting good quality fingerlings; avoiding negative selection in hatcheries o Fish transport o Fish handling; quantification, harvesting and record‐keeping o Principles of fish preservation o Options for rice:fish production systems o Evaluating the economic performance of different aquaculture management levels o Making business plans, enterprise budgets and cash flow analyses 7 Other items needed:  A small, locally made pelletizer will help tremendously if the expired soybean meal can be obtained for making the feed.  Fish transport gear is needed: not so much relying on compressed oxygen, which can be difficult to source in the counties. A system based upon small tanks supplied with air from12‐volt DC agitators or air blowers/compressors will be most appropriate. The transport tanks should be adapted to really, really bad roads.  Some dissolved oxygen meters and water testing supplies for total alkalinity, total hardness and dissolved iron and pH will be needed. The dissolved oxygen meters are needed for about 1 year to train technicians on fish handling and transport and to demonstrate oxygen dynamics in ponds.  Happas and dip nets are needed initially. A good seine should be made for the Douyee Town hatchery to use for fingerling harvest. This can be done in one of the training sessions. Items already provided as part of this contract:  K. Veverica purchased a meat mincer and cooking pot for making pellets. This was handed over to the Douyee town hatchery. Funds came from her diem.  Also provided under this contract were some water quality test strips, pH strips and 2 weighing balances (not very precise) were handed over to Godfrey.  A set of electronic documents on catfish production, tilapia fry production and sex reversal, tilapia production and some feed tables were provided by Veverica.  With Mr. Noli and Godfrey Woyea of ASA/WISHH, Veverica discussed the design of a motorized pelletizer that is not too expensive, as well as a pellet size grader. The mincer that was provided will not be appropriate; a new mincer that can be bolted down needs to be sourced. A larger capacity is preferred. Keyinfrastructureconstraintsforaquaculturedevelopmentand
solutionstoaddressthem



Lack of qualified human resources. The people are there and they have some formal training; now need to be guided in managing more than just subsistence farming. Solution: Train the government staff and the NGO‐paid advisors first as well as a few farmers and work with only a few farms; the advisors will learn by doing. Both the advisors and the trained farmers will transfer information. The trainers at the Songhai training institute need to be evaluated; or better yet, just invite them to the training and provide them with better information to use in their own training. Anybody receiving training must arrive at training with production information from their sector and should leave training with a clear action plan in mind. Lack of information on actual practicing fish farmers and previously constructed commercial fish farming ventures Solution : Help government conduct “frame survey”, meaning the pond census. This also means that ASA/WISHH should report all pond numbers and production data to the government. Extremely difficult transport across country. It costs about 170‐$200/ton to transport commodities from Monrovia to Grand Gedeh. Solution (short term): Localize the feed and fry production, which means it will have to be small‐scale but viable. Smaller harvest will 8 allow for fresh sales. Do NOT consider sending fish to Monrovia where prices are relatively low. Keep everything local, where prices are high. Demand is fairly high, especially around the areas of mining operations where purchasing power is high. The mining activities keep food prices high, as usual. Farmers can benefit from this if they are properly trained.  Land tenure issues and community‐owned ponds. This is a common problem throughout Africa and cannot be resolved by this project. Solution: work with farmers who have some type of land agreement and do not look to include community‐owned ponds in any program unless they can show they are functional and provide good returns for each member.  Electricity not available in much of the country and not reliable. Solution: Work out management plans that do not require electricity. Some solar‐powered hatchery set‐ups have been used but a pond‐based hatchery is also quite feasible. Sell fish fresh; make management plans accordingly.  Lack of cash and donor dependency among the rural population: NGO’s (and government) need to stop paying people to grow fish. They know this and are already acting. Solution: If anything is given free of charge, it should be justified by showing how the resulting fish sales can be re‐invested in the farm for improvements or expansion or anything that will be self‐
sustaining. Mr. Hasson’s report describes how APDRA is working with some farmers to begin fish farming and grow their investment as sales are made so they can invest in a higher form of management. Examples of successful and profitable fish farming will go a long ways towards encouraging farmers to reinvest some of their profits into intensifying their operations. The best thing is to start small and to show that farmers can indeed make money from fish farming even if there is no donor. Canavibrantaquacultureindustrybedevelopedinthecountiesand
how?
We are not sure if one should use the term “vibrant” nor “industry” at this time but eventually, fish farming can play a part in Liberia’s agriculture development as a profitable way to make high quality food from agricultural byproducts. My advice is:  Don’t rush it. Demonstrating long lasting and truly positive impacts for a large number of people in a short time has become the obligation of almost all donor‐funded programs even though it is unrealistic. ASA WISHH may be able to avoid this trap and invest relatively small amounts of money over a longer period in ways that build a good foundation of understanding.  Start with a small number of farmers and make sure they are highly successful.  Create a cadre of trained advisors; as profits are demonstrated, these advisors will be able to make their own salary.  Make sure the trainers at Songhai and the other NGO‐employed trainers are up to speed; especially in terms of enterprise budget.  Stay away from group ponds but not totally; just do not encourage them. Any groups should be the result of mutual desire to work together, not be forced as a way to obtain assistance. The members should know up front what the likely annual production will be and how they will be splitting up the revenues. Grouped individual ponds are a good idea.  Focus on the youth that were recently trained by the government at Songhai. They do not know everything they need to know but they have a good introduction to fish farming. 9 The best species to work with are the nile tilapia and the catfish (Clarias gariepinus). Some growth data on the bottlenose should also be collected. The bottlenose are of the family Mormyridae and are called elephant snout fish in East Africa. George thinks catfish can be sold for higher price than tilapia. YES, they can but only if they are larger than the tilapia! Even other species are fetching good prices in the area. There are several women who purchase fish either fresh or frozen and then smoke them for sale on market days. Zwedru has at least 3 frozen food depots; River Gee depends on Zwedru for frozen fish. The government’s desire to work with freshwater prawns is a bit premature but prawn culture development can remain part of a long‐term plan. At this time there is no need to develop more sites; it is best to first get a few going and to also get some results before expanding; there are sufficient ponds for this but their joint ownership is a problem. Some of these ponds have been handed over to individuals or a smaller group than initially benefitting from the pond construction subsidy. This is a good trend. ASA/WISHH should focus on individual farmers or functional groups. Opportunitiesforprivatesectorinvolvementanddevelopment
A few private investors have been watching things in Liberia for several years. There is some interest in shrimp culture because most investors only look near Monrovia due to lack of infrastructure elsewhere. Those who have looked into investing in aquaculture feel it is a bit premature to invest in Liberia at this time; fish prices are low, there are still plenty of fish being harvested from the sea and it is difficult to find reliable workers under these circumstances. This can be considered as the near‐Monrovia situation. There really is no information on up‐country. Those looking near the coast should beware of acid‐sulfate soils. In terms of really large scale (thousands of tons per year), it is not feasible at this time anywhere in Liberia. There are other countries with much better infrastructure and adequate water resources that would attract investors before Liberia does. But smaller farms of about 1 ha total pond area could produce five or more tons per year, and employ a few people as well as provide fairly good profit in Grand Gedeh and River Gee as well as other counties that are far from Monrovia. These types of farms are feasible. Medium scale farms of 10 to 20 ha are probably feasible near the larger towns. There are some large farming cooperatives that were developed by the government many years ago, and some included fish ponds of rather substantial size. One such farm near Bonga is said to contain several large (about 1‐acre) ponds, currently in a state of disrepair. As these farms get leased or purchased and back into production, the owners would be well‐advised to renovate the ponds and re‐start fish production but still at a rather medium scale that doesn’t require imported inputs. A rice byproduct‐based management scheme would be the best prospect for the next 3 or more years. After that, simple compounded feed, can take over (made on‐farm), or, if the transport infrastructure is greatly improved, importation of fish feed from N. or S. America or from Ghana. It is too soon to even think about manufacture of fish feed. Importation will be sufficient until annual demand surpasses 3,000 tonnes(equivalent to roughly 1,500 tonnes of fish production). For 10 the time being, it is best to identify the feed ingredients and keep track of the supply and prices of agricultural byproducts. HOWEVER, the expired soybean meal and the cassava by‐products can be made into a feed; it is best to pelletize with a meat mincer. Taking a meat mincer purchased locally and running it by a belt‐
driven motor will be all that is needed for the time being. We made such a feed with the hand‐crank mincer with Godfrey and George and air‐dried it. The feed holds up remarkably well but it still sinks. If the expired soybean meal can be turned into fish feed pellets, the hatcheries and some of the more progressive farmers should get this feed for as long as it lasts; they can make some pretty good revenues that can help them expand their operations. Before this feed is provided to the government hatcheries, there must be some formalized decision made to allow revenues coming in as a result of this feed need to be reinvested in the hatcheries and also used for paying workers. The feed could also be provided for the 8 ponds in Fishtown if the group of 8 youth get the agreement from the MoA to take over the ponds and they do the work to clean up and make a management plan. The feed must be understood to be a one‐time deal that should provide the revenues that can be used to improve their ponds; add more ponds and make the first purchase of other inputs for the next cycle‐ mostly likely rice bran. The Zwedru hatchery; can use 10 tons soybean flour in 1 year; possibly 15T. Nearby farmers could use a maximum of about 1 ton each. Pig and poultry farmers would also be interested. In order to promote investment, the best way to start is to get a very good set of production and associated input data: what is FCR of rice bran only as input? What is the optimum production cycle; how much does it cost to produce fish with the different inputs currently available; what is maximum standing crop at different management levels. For example, a cost‐ comparison can be made between using only rice bran vs. the feed made by pelletizing 3 different ingredients. Then, most importantly: show some examples of success; people making pretty good profit from fish ponds. CoordinationwithotherdonoragenciesandUSAIDprojects
The efforts of the BNF to hold regular coordination meetings among donor organizations working in aquaculture are to be commended. According to Ken Hasson of USAID, those currently funding some aquaculture activities include Mercy Corps (Oregon‐based NGO), Danish Refugee Council, Welt Hunger Hilfe (WHH), with funding from German Agro‐Action , Visions in Action (Washington‐based NGO), FFDC (Faimaba Fisheries Development Cooperative, Liberian NGO), APDRA (Association Pisciculture ‐ Rural Development in Tropical Humid Africa, French NGO), Samaritan’s Purse (U.S.‐
based NGO, USAID funded), Catholic Relief Services (U.S.‐based NGO) and Concern Worldwide (EU‐
based NGO). These organizations hire local technical advisors and it is possible that they are not aware of all the possible sources of reliable information on aquaculture. The ASA/WISHH activities should be reported to BNF on a regular basis and information shared at these coordinating meetings. ASA/WISHH can help the entire aquaculture sector by offering regular high‐level training of trainers. When the advisors from other donors get together twice a year for these training sessions, it will encourage exchange of information. The training proposed herein should be a joint effort with the BNF because their support would help convince the aquaculture advisors funded by other donors to attend. 11 The BNF would very much like to have the return of Peace Corps fisheries volunteers. However, the Peace Corps is focusing on education at this time. A volunteer placed at the technical training institute at Klay could also help with the hatchery and in training youth. Expertise should be in animal husbandry/aquaculture or any type of agriculture enterprises. The new USAID agriculture project calls for concentration on rice and goats. Liberia is well‐suited to goats in terms of ample feed available and the traditional eating habits. The fish farming centers could use some sheep on their levees; goats are a bit hard to manage. Rice is also a very good commodity that links well with fish farming. There is a severe lack of rice milling capacity and what is normally accepted by economists; that large rice factories are the most viable, is not going to work in Liberia given the enormous transport costs. However, the smaller mills are expensive to operate, they break down sometimes even before getting started and are going to be a source of headaches for a long time. While the infrastructure is being improved, (this will take at least a decade), the farmers need some type of reliable mill as a stop‐gap; otherwise the rice production will not increase. Options are: the traveling rice mill (as practiced in Cambodia); simple household hand‐crank mills and perhaps an improved locally made mill that actually works or an imported mill that also actually works and is sufficient for perhaps a ton per day. Fish farmers are ready and willing to buy the bran‐ which they call dust or powder. If they had the mill, they could operate it for other rice farmers in return for bran, like the Cambodians do. It is said that in much of SE Asia, the rice is sold at break‐even price and the bran is where the profit is made. Concentrating on rice production without assuring a good market for the bran will probably not lead to success and fish farming is a very good means of converting rice bran to quality food. Rice:fish demonstration trials are already underway in two of the government stations and in the private sector with funding from the EU. These trials need to be followed and reported upon; something the proposed training programs will encourage. Adding fish to rice paddies is a centuries‐
old technique that improves rice yields, reduces mosquito larvae and adds a second (and high‐value) crop to the farming system. Using fish in rice paddies reduces or even negates the need to use pesticides. Add to this the value‐addition of the rice bran resulting from using it to enhance fish production and it is obvious that rice should never be cultivated without thinking about adding fish to the mix. One thing that would be good to try is the use of rice paddies to grow out tilapia fry to fingerlings to serve as advanced stockers for fish ponds. Hand‐sexing of the advanced stockers can be done to evaluate the benefits of growing all‐male tilapia. Starting in 2010, the EU contracted a French NGO, APDRA, to oversee a $1 million 3 year integrated lowland rice‐fish farm project together with a Liberian NGO called Catalyst. Their projects are located in Bong, Lofa and Nimba counties. Results of the first production cycles should be available in early 2012. It would be good to watch how things develop here and to learn from their results. Conclusions
If farmers can get a fish price of 200 ld per kg (say 50 ld per 250‐gram fish), then aquaculture using some purchased ingredients such as rice bran can be quite viable. This seems to be the case in Grand Gedeh and River Gee. However, fish prices seem to be lower near Monrovia. The default feeding regime will be rice bran with a bit of leaves. Bulgur is also used but if the price is 12 substantially higher than good quality rice bran, it may not be worth it unless it can be cooked and added to the pellets. I recommend a feeding limit of 1 kg per 100m2 per day; less when the fish are small. A feed table was provided but further training is needed so the aquaculture advisors can make adjustments to local conditions. We were pleasantly surprised to find that fish prices are quite high in the two target counties. They could even come down and fish farmers could still make some pretty good money. Current prices for table size fish are at $1.50/kg from Klay hatchery; the lowest in the W. Africa region by far, but probably because it is a government hatchery. It is the only place selling by kg except for the cold storage shops. However, fishers and farmers get up to $2.50 to $3/kg retail in Grand Gedeh area. Although all sizes can be sold, a 250 to 300 g tilapia and bottlenose should be targeted and about 600 g catfish. Larger fish will get more attention but maybe not better profit. ASA/WISHH should work with farmers who have a more commercial outlook‐ this is not easy but they are the ones who will move if the profits are there. They should begin by helping Douyee Town hatchery demonstrate profitable fish culture and by showing a good production, good feeding response, and fully transparent operating costs. The serious farmers will only be convinced by this. The need for feed is a big constraint and some of the farmers are suggesting ownership of a small rice mill as the means of solving this problem. It is possible that increasing the number of operational mills in the rural areas that already have demonstrated a second market for the by‐product rice bran can indeed reduce rice price and keep fish prices at moderate levels. Although reducing food prices is one of the project objectives, increasing farmer income is even more beneficial and it will have much more long‐lasting effects. Documentsconsulted
1. “Meeting with Bureau of National Fisheries Director, Mr. Subah and Head of Aquaculture, Mr. Weefar” this is a summary of BNF needs and concerns; June 20, 2011; an internal USAID memo by Ken Hasson. 2. “Visit to Gbaranga rice‐fish farms”; 17 October 2011. This is a report on the rice‐fish project of APDRA visit by Ken Hasson (internal USAID memo) 3. Aquaculture and Inland Fisheries Priorities (Program) Needs for Development: a short summary paper by the BNF; not dated. 4. Drammeh, Ousman K.L. 2007. IV. The Fisheries Subsector; part of CAAS‐Lib subsector Reports Volume 2.1, FAO. 5. Liberia National Fishery Sector Overview. 2007, FAO 13 Source water at Douyee town hatchery is acid and appears to have high iron content. 2 volunteer workers keep the Douyee town hatchery in very good condition. Fishers sell by the piece and do not adjust price by size. These fish were selling for 60 ld each (70ld=$1US)on the road between Zwedru and Fishtown. Women often buy frozen fish from the cold storage (3 in Zwedru) and smoke them for sale at market in Fishtown. Despite its name, there are not so many fish available in Fishtown. 14
It is easy enough to make pellets with a meat mincer and dry them in the sun but the size is not uniform. The mix used here was 50% soybean meal flour and 50% rejected gari. When made with hot water, the pellets (right) maintain integrity for more than 30 minutes. At left, the ingredients were added as they are‐ in powder form. This fouls the water and reduces water quality which in turn reduces fish growth. A well‐fertilized pond in the town of Zwedru. The owner, a local businessman, raises hogs and has abundant manure supply. He has begun constructing outside of town but the quality of pond construction is extremely poor. A previously private pond that was renovated to serve as a group pond and has since been abandoned. The daughter of the previous owner lives next to the pond and is part of a youth agriculture group. She would like to re‐start the pond but has no money to pay workers. 15
Two ponds belonging to Yarlee Farmers’ Association, Konobo District, Grand Gedeh. The group is fairly well organized, especially when it comes to selling their fish. They just lack rice milling capacity in the area, so obtaining enough rice bran is problematic. They are saving their money from fish sales to purchase a rice mill. A series of 8 ponds in Fishtown, River Gee county could be renovated to serve as a fingerling center and as demonstration fish production ponds if turned over to the youth group. They would need some fingerlings and feed for the first cycle of production. There is sufficient demand for fish to assure a market. Even in the “good road season” when this photo was taken, transport is problematic. In rainy season, long delays are inevitable. Liberia’s vast water resources are attractive for aquaculture development but with no source of quality fish feed and poor transport infrastructure, many of the necessary conditions for commercial aquaculture development are lacking. 16 Annex1:FishPricesummaryandtemplateforfurtherdatacollection
Date Location Type of fish Price as sold Dec 2011 Klay hatchery Kakata Fresh tilapia Frozen mackerel 125 ld/kg for tilapia, of 200‐300 g size. 850ld/10 kg box Kakata Frozen sea catfish Zwedru Frozen from cold store Fresh, whole (acc. to George) Fresh, direct from fishers. Often bought by middlemen/women Frozen in Zwedru 4 Dec 2011 4 Dec 2011 Dec 2011 Dec 2011 Zwedru Dec 2011 Grand Gedeh; Konobo District? River Gee Dec 2011 Dec 2011 Dec 2011 Dec 2011 Dec 2011 Grand Gedeh and River Gee On the roadside; River Gee Fishtown market Fishtown market Fresh big tilapia, produced from ponds. Smoked catfish and dogfish Smoked fish from cold store Zwedru Smoked fish from cold store Wholesale/
retail Retail $US per kg LWE* $1.78 Wholesale $1.21 1200ld/10kg box Wholesale $1.71 30‐60 ld each size 250‐
350 g 50‐60 ld each; 4or 5/kg Retail $1.71‐ $3.42 Retail $2.85‐$3.50 60ld each; no matter size. Varies from 4 to 2/kg Wholesale of sorts $1.70‐$3.40 5,000/box (10 kg?)VERIFY 250‐300 ld each; 500g size Wholesale $7.14 Retail $7.14‐$8.57 250 ld each; estimate 350‐500g LWE Retail $7.14‐$10.20
150 each; larger fish (up to 500g LWE) 60 for small (100‐200g LWE); Retail $4.28 or more
Retail $4.28 or more
*LWE is the “live weight equivalent” which figures price based upon the original whole, live weight of the fish. I had trouble estimating the LWE, so have been conservative; prices can be even higher. ACTION:  Continue tracking fish prices using this as a template.  Make an easy way of measuring fish to calculate LWE. Total length is Ok but the smoked fish are curled up, so maybe trace the outline or something.  Find out about how many fish are in a box when the women smokers buy. Ask them about how much profit they can make by smoking and re‐selling; find out their transport costs. You need to be creative when asking. You will probably have to buy some of the smoked fish to get all your measures. This is a normal cost of doing business and will result in much more reliable information. 17 Annex2:OtherInputs
Rice bran (sometimes called rice powder), must be verified for the process used to make this. If it is the first pass through the mill, it is mostly hulls, which are quite useless for feeding fish as the fiber content is very high. If the second pass, it would contain little hulls, some broken rice and mostly the fine powder. Most rice bran is about 10 to 12% protein, and has a good bit of fat, which is the preferred energy source for fish. However, due to the high fat, it can go rancid, making the bran less nutritious (energy‐wise). Prices are running about 25ld per 15‐20 kg bag; so about 1.67ld/kg or 2.4 US cents per kg, which is $24 per metric ton—REALLY cheap. It is worth it for farmers to pay more, (even double) and get the best bran they can find; so some training needs to be done on this. If a farmer uses exclusively rice bran, an FCR of between 8 and 20 can be expected, depending on how the pond is constructed and how the feeding is done. This means that for every 8 to 20 kg of bran used about 1 kg of fish can be produced. Taking the highest (20), that means a production cost of 20*$.024= $.48/kg of fish produced for the feed portion of the operating costs; not bad. However, the maximum fish that can be produced per square meter will be somewhere in the range of 300g/m2; so a 400 m2 pond would yield about 120 kg. Some of the farmers are getting this already. To get more than this, the choice is to: increase the number or size of ponds; or use better feed if a farmer wants to increase total yield. If a donor is ready to pay people to construct ponds, the choice is pretty easy: build more. If the farmer is space or water‐limited and wishes to increase yields, the only choice is for better feeds or to use the most appropriate stocking density (number fingerlings put into the pond) that will give the size of fish that fetches the best market price. ACTION: Godfrey needs to make a collection of rice bran samples (and prices) to show farmers the different qualities. If he puts some in a jar, and lets it shake around a bit, the denser particles will go towards the bottom and the hulls will stay on top. The farmers will be able to see the differences in rice bran quality. If everyone can begin saving their empty jars, Godfrey can make a nice collection. A good test is to measure bulk density, provided the bran is equally dry. A uniform‐sized cup full to the brim with bran can be weighed; the bran with most fiber will have the lowest weight. Bulgur reportedly sells in Zwedru for 600ld/bag of 50 kg (this may be pounds since it seems to come from US food aid). If it is for a 50 lb bag, then this is about $.38 per kg. Bulgur will have a bit more protein than rice bran but it sinks also. Rice husks: these are of little value except to use as fuel for smoking fish or as cooking fuel for improved stoves. Then the ash can be used in the ponds as a liming agent and source of minerals. Hydrated lime can be purchased for 11 to 12 $US per bag: It has liming equivalent of about 1.3 But wood ash or rice husk ash can be used instead of lime. Figure on about a 33% liming equivalent which means it will take 3kg of wood ash to have the same effect as 1 kg of agricultural lime. Rice straw: good fodder for cattle and possibly goats. Hopefully, the USAID project can assist farmers in learning the best ways to utilize all the byproducts from rice; as this will lead to better profits for farmers and could allow for lower rice prices. Many rice millers in Asia mill rice for free; but the farmer must leave behind the rice bran, which is sold to meet operating costs and makes the profit for the miller. There are even roving rice mills that are mounted on old trucks and move from village to village. 18 Annex3:Trainingoutline
The first training should be held for the people who have been advising farmers and for some of the more progressive farmers; especially the youth that followed the training at Songhai Center. Maximum should be 20 participants. The program presented is very intense. New farmers will be overwhelmed. This is specifically for farmers who have previously practiced fish farming and the advisors working with NGO’s. Godfrey should be assistant facilitator the first time (George should also be an assistant) and the 2 will hopefully be able to conduct similar trainings later. Anybody who will benefit from the ASA feed must attend this training. These farmers can be considered as lead farmers and they should be able to at least advise other farmers. Day1: Important and often ignored concepts in fish farming  Self introductions, what type fish production is practiced, what they expect to get out of this training  What makes fish grow  Carrying capacity  Water quality parameters that are the most important and how to improve them. (dissolved oxygen, pH, total alkalinity, total hardness)  Give assignment, due at the last day Field work: use oxygen meter; learn how to maintain and calibrate; measure pH, alkalinity and hardness; discuss results. Measure pH after ash application. Day 2: Pond design and construction  Construction criteria for commercial fish ponds and disadvantages if not followed  Design criteria for fry ponds  Renovating ponds  Pond maintenance Field work: Evaluate soil quality for pond construction; measure levels. More water quality measurement practice. Day 3: Feeds and feed management  What fish need in a feed  Supplemental feeds (the intensity triangles)  Pellet vs. powder feeds; floating vs. sinking feeds  Feed making  Feed management and FCR  How to read and use a feed table  Field work: feed fish and fill in records; practice problems on FCR; make feed pellets with rice bran, soy flour and cassava. Test feeds for integrity, floatability and leaching. Day 4: Management plans and handling:  Handling fish of all sizes; harvesting techniques; seining  Field: Sample a pond; recalculate feed amount  Field: Sexing tilapia 19 


Transport principles Field: practice transport and follow oxygen levels over time Making management plans Day 5: management plans (putting it all together)  Evaluating costs, revenues and profits  Managing for continuous production  Individual presentations of management plans (by group)  Any other questions  Closing and certificates This type of training is getting to be a sort of standard for several programs Auburn has been assisting in Africa. It will require a bit of start‐up effort; perhaps a week prior to the training and a few days after. A senior‐level person is needed as these advisors and NGO’s already know some aquaculture principles and need a senior person to show them improvements on what they already know. The participants must leave the training with a complete idea of the management they are going to implement and the types of records they need to keep. A second training can be done to examine results of the production trials. This should be about 8 months after the first training. Some additional training on improved smoking techniques can also be very helpful. It will save fuel and make for higher quality smoked product. The chokkor smokers are probably the best since they are still very simple and do not require drastic changes to the present methods. Godfrey has a book from me that has an annex on smoking catfish. Another training is hatchery methods; specifically for the group managing the 8 ponds in Fishtown and the Zwedru hatchery. Klay and Nimba hatchery manager can be invited as well. Species covered should be tilapias (both nile and zilli), clarias, and heterotis and bottlenose to a lesser extent. Simple hatchery methods for clarias should be taught; not the high‐tech methods for which 24‐hour electricity and complete feeds are needed. More detailed training on fish handling and transport should be part of the hatchery training module. 20 Annex4:Waterqualitychecksusingteststripsandtemplatefor
furtherwaterqualityreporting
date time 2 Dec 14:00 place Klay hatchery; well water 2 Dec 14:15 Klay hatchery, pond 8 4 Dec PM Ganta rehab centr; canal 5 Dec PM Zwedru hatchery, reservoir 5 Dec PM Zwedru , pond 7 5 Dec PM OTAR farm, phase 1, pond 6 Dec Mid‐AM Pond, Yarlee community 6 Dec PM Pond, Mr. Deah and 6 2011 others 8Dec2011 Late AM Fishtown comm. Ponds (8) 9Dec2011 8:30 Alison’s pond, Zwedru DESIREABLE TH (Total Hardness) 120 TA (Total Alkalinity) 80 pH remarks 7 Good 25 Almost 0
About 25 Almost 0
<6.4 <6.4 50
Abt 40
6.8 50 25 6.2 6.2 50 40 0 or at least very low Est. 50 Slight bloom Really need liming; no blooms Lots tannins in water Slight bloom Low water flow also 6.8 25‐50 25 or less 6.8 OK bloom 25 Est. 25 5.2 50 80 6.4 Wow; but no management for 1 year; Good color 50 to 200 50 to 200 7 to Green water, (up to 100 (up to 100 8 visibility about 25 for clarias) for clarias) cm. The strips measured nitrates and nitrites but all tests came up zero‐ to be expected. TH: total hardness in mg/l as CaCO3 TA: total alkalinity as mg/L CaCO3 Temperature is expected to be about 25 to 30C; but should be measured. Most water sampled seems to be relatively soft and slightly acidic. The color is reddish brown, probably from tannins and humic acids, as most of the water emanates from heavily forested areas. There seems to be high dissolved iron content in the water as well. The ponds could benefit from liming or ash application and this will help them get a better phytoplankton bloom that will provide a valuable nutrient complement to the rice bran diet. 21 Annex5:TrainingopportunitiesforLiberianaquacultureadvisors
There are numerous training opportunities inside Africa and at Auburn. Many of these are actually funded under the American Soybean Association or USSEC either directly or with USDA grants. 1. Ghana: some short training programs for feed‐based aquaculture (tilapia) will be held in Ghana in 2012. Duration will be one day in many circumstances but there may be some longer programs; perhaps 3 days. There will probably be 4 different times these trainings are held. 2. Auburn: 2 trainings are programmed so far: one for Chinese and one for Pakistanis, both under ASA‐IM. However, they only run about a week and are largely classroom based with tours of facilities; not so much hands‐on experience. 3. Auburn: a 1‐month field training for those who have had enough classroom based training will be held at Auburn in summer 2012. Cost is $2,500 tuition; living is expected to be about $1600 including housing and meals. This is almost all pond and hatchery work, plus a short tour of large‐scale pond‐based aquaculture in West Alabama. The participants will come from many countries. The official announcement will come out in February 2012. Last year, tilapia fry production and a variety of hatchery options was the main subject for the field activities. 4. The Certification of Aquaculture Professional is a distance‐learning program that encompasses 136 lectures in 10 learning units; each with an exam. It provides a one‐year subscription to all the program plus advising and access to seminars presented at Auburn. It is highly practical in nature and gives very good instruction even for those who have advanced degrees in aquaculture. This program is based on the lectures developed under Auburn’s Aquaculture Training Programs. The ATP has been terminated but the lecture form the CAP and the field training portion has been condensed down to 1‐month field training program (see#3). As other training programs become known, WISHH will be kept informed. It would be very useful to combine efforts and consolidate some of these trainings for the various programs that are funded by USDA, USSEC, ASA and WISHH. 22 Annex6:SuppliesList
All items are found at Aquatic Ecosystems (aquaticeco.com) Description oxygen meter, YSI200 oxygen probe, 4 meters 12‐volt air pump, 25W airstones heavy duty airline tubing,100' 4‐valve manifold iron test strips 0‐5ppm pH test strips, 100/pack alkalinity test strips, 0‐240ppm small dip nets, dozen 6x7" small dip nets, dozen 10x7" bait bucket air pump spring scale, 1kgx20g scale, top loading, 20kgx50g nylon netting, knotless, 3/16" AES cat # YDO200
Y2004 DC8 AS3
TP30HD VMB4 H27453 PH2
H27448 29003
29005
DC3 SB91 SB40A NA3
unit price $ 256.00 $ 265.00 $ 95.00 $ 2.80 $ 19.67 $ 20.75 $ 18.59 $ 22.12 $ 9.89 $ 11.46 $ 20.00 $ 8.95 $ 79.00 $ 69.00 $ 6.55 Quantity
2
3 2 12
1 2 2 4
4 1 1
3 2 2 20
total $ 512.00 $ 795.00 $ 190.00 $ 33.60 $ 19.67 $ 41.50 $ 37.18 $ 88.48 $ 39.56 $ 11.46 $ 20.00 $ 26.85 $ 158.00 $ 138.00 $ 131.00 TOTAL, not inclu $ 2,242.30 shipping note: some of these items can be obtained from different vendors at a slightly lower price 23 Annex7:yearlyactivityplans
Year 1: Through May 2012  Continue collecting data on water quality, fish prices, and fish production. Godfrey Woyea will be in charge. George Poka can assist.  Begin making pelleted feed with expired soya flour and cassava for the Douyee town hatchery and some select farmers.  Purchase supplies as listed and send to Liberia (before training program takes place).  Purchase a partial CAP subscription for Godfrey ASAP. He needs to start this while still in Monrovia.  Begin administrative procedures for Godfrey to attend training in Auburn in June.  April 2012, 2 Auburn people travel to Liberia to conduct training program for up to 20 participants. Participants should be from government BNF, any other aquaculture trainers (Songhai training center, university) NGO’s active in fish farming, especially GAA and …, youth who have undergone training at Songhai and who will be starting some aquaculture activities in the near future. One of the 2 will stay on for a bit longer to set up data collection. Year 2: June 2012 through May 2013  send Godfrey to an aquaculture field training program such as the one in Auburn, (June 2012)  Training conducted in Liberia on rice/fish systems& hatchery management. (Phelps, Nov 2012); possibly leave on a student volunteer.  Training on pond construction for farmers. Conducted by 1 Auburn person (Feb 2013)  Trip for 1 or 2 Liberians to Ghana to coincide with Auburn‐led training program on LVHD cage culture and pond management.  Purchase second half of CAP for Godfrey if he is near completion of first half.  Godfrey and George hold one‐day trainings for farmers Year 3: this program could change if some of the larger farms reinstate their fish ponds. June 2013 through May 2014  Godfrey and George hold one‐day trainings for farmers  Train “farm managers” if larger farms get back into business. Also train on feed‐
making.  CAP program subscription and Auburn Field training for George Poka or other from BNF  Hold training (2 Auburn people) with NGO’s and government agents to discuss results and advise on their concerns. Hanson, and Davis? This program will have to be adjusted based upon results in year 1 and 2. 24