Nigeria

MV Pampaida Fishing Festival: A tale of ‘waste to wealth’

The people of Pampaida Millennium Village witnessed for the first time in their community, a Fishing Festival which took place on Thursday 09 April 2009. During the exercise, about 1,500 fish weighing an average 0.7Kg were harvested from the demonstration fish pond and sold directly to Community members, project staff and spectators. Funds realized will be put back into the communal fish project.

A fish harvester with his catch

The idea of the Demonstration Fish Pond which began in November last year, with a stock of 3,000 juvenile cat fish is part of the wider strategy to diversify Agriculture in Pampaida Millennium Village and to promote fish production for sustainable livelihood for farmers. The target is for at least 50% of the households in the community to adapt/buy into this means of sustainable livelihood using purely environmental land resources. This fish pond serves as an in-house learning laboratory for potential fish farmers.

Also, the location for the Demonstration Fish Pond is meant to showcase how waste land within communities can be turned into productive use for income generation – waste to wealth initiative. The project carried out capacity building trainings on fish production and feeds making in the Village. The fish pond is jointly managed by three trained youths from the village and the project team. About 315 potential fish farmers have indicated their intention to commence fish production at the beginning of 2009 rainy season.