NEW: ‘Fish farming creates employers’

Theseus Shambare in SANYATI

Government is capacitating people in rural areas to become employers rather than employees, through the tilapia intensive dam and fishpond stocking programme being rolled out countrywide under the Presidential Fisheries Scheme.

These remarks were made by Fisheries and Aquaculture Resources Department deputy director Ms Lillian Nyashanu.

She was addressing community members of Ward 8 in Sanyati district on Wednesday.

“In an effort to serve all people, Government is establishing business units at youth hubs, village nutrition gardens and irrigation schemes all with a fish production component to promote a business approach to agriculture.

“As a Ministry, the thrust is to create employers rather than employees, and through such initiatives the country will soon be in a position to unlock the potential of our food production sector,” said Ms Nyashanu.

In recent years, Zimbabwe has seen a rise in fish farming activities, especially at small-holder level.

The event saw the Department stocking a total of 20 000 indigenous tilapia fish species into Maheremeti Dam (Ward 8) and Seke Irrigation Scheme night storage dams (Ward 7), with each ward getting 10 000 fingerlings.

Sanyati Constituency legislator Cde Polite Kambamura said the Presidential Fisheries Scheme was a life-changing initiative.

“We went to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development after the President launched this scheme.

“He explained to us that we need to take care of our natural resources like these dams and utilise them through fishing.

“Now that we have been given these, we need to be organised and ensure that we enjoy the benefits of this programme through sustainable practices,” he said.

Recently, Government launched a US$500 000 Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) for fish breeding and production, which is set to produce a target of 3,92 million fingerlings per month.

Zimbabwe has an annual requirement of 60 000 tonnes of fish, while current production stands at around 33 000 tonnes.

Through such initiatives, it is expected that production will jump to 55 000 tonnes annually by next year.

 X@TheseusShambare