Catching Farmers Young…

For Africa and Nigeria in particular there is the looming threat of food insecurity. Arable lands are dwindling, climate change is taking a toll on agricultural practices,the farming population is aging and going extinct, famine is ravaging the Horn of Africa. This should be of urgent concern to all stakeholders and getting young persons to invest in or practice agriculture is a way of translating the threats to opportunities.

Agriculture is not exactly attractive. Drudgery occasioned by crude methods, low profitability of agricultural products, difficulty in accessing agro-markets among others are factors conspiring to discourage young people from Agriculture. Besides among young people including me, there is the wide-spreading mentality of “making it big” and practicing agriculture rarely guarantees that…only with telescopic sights could one see the money-spinning potential. In spite of these glaring challenges, I think young persons can still be steered to develop interest in agriculture. One effective means of doing that is making the subject Agricultural Science as practical as possible in secondary schools.

In secondary schools all over Nigeria students offer Agricultural Science for six years as part of the curriculum but much of this is geared towards theory – memorizing the concepts and duplicating them in exams. This in my opinion barely encourages the practice of the subject. I recall in my first year in high school as part of our Agricultural Science activities we were divided into groups and asked to provide seeds, plant them on allotted pieces of land, weed the farm and even do the harvesting of our plants for our consumption. So we had a small school farm for the class and my group planted groundnuts. Although at that age I was already a practicing farmer those practical sessions further cemented my interest in agriculture. That farm for me was like a personal investment – one to be treated with utmost diligence. Participating in those agricultural activities were simply exciting to most of the students in my group. Off the record though, when it came to the harvesting we were not invited, I guess the Agricultural Science teacher and his family did that at night. Even though I felt gypped of the expected harvest, the experience was still an empowering one.

Only recently during my youth service some students came to the staff room with various vegetables. So much so that you would think the Agricultural Science teacher had taken to petty trading of the leaves. The vegetables were from the class farm, cultivated by students. Well, this particular teacher was not like mine, she merely took a fraction and let whoever wanted to share in the harvest take a share, including the students. I thought that was a nice approach to learn Agricultural Science – practice the parts that are feasible rather than merely feed students with notes upon notes.

Students who participated in nurturing the class farm above are bound to appreciate the subject more and even become stakeholders in agriculture whether they decide to study agriculture as a discipline or not. Letting them partake in the “fruits of their labor” is also a means to encourage students to grow into practicing agriculturalists.

Many Nigerian schools can inculcate the approach of building a school farm, no matter how small, a nursery even. Let students practice the concepts of harrowing, ploughing, tilling, planting, weeding, manure production and application, harvesting and most importantly “reaping the fruits of their labor”. Some schools can as well afford to have a small poultry farm and have student groups take turns to tend to the birds. The cost of such a class project can easily be shared by the students in a particular group.

There is no doubt that farming is not exactly that “sexy” job most young people want to practice. And most people will only read agriculture when they have been denied Veterinary Medicine or some other “sexy” course choice. But in truth, we really don’t have to read Animal Production or Crop Production to engage in agriculture. Sometimes all we need is to see the opportunities and the needs and invest our resources in the field. For Africa and Nigeria the food insecurity threat is just enough incentive to seize the opportunities of a largely untapped sector. Making Agricultural Science truly engaging in a practical way at the secondary school level is an effective way of catching the needed farmers young.

The Challenge of a Changing Climate

Several months ago I told some of my students I was writing an essay on the ‘impact of climate change on women’. I spoke to them like an audience that was familiar with the concept of ‘climate change’ only to get drawn looks of non-discernment from them. “What is Climate Change?” a bold student asks. Challenge number one. I tried my best to provide a naive explanation of how our earth was warming up (using a global warming approach) as a result of a combination of several factors like depletion of the ozone layer, human anthropogenic activities like combustion of fossils that produce green house gases like CO2, deforestation which upsets the CO2 balance of the Carbon Circle and even unnecessary use of infra-red generating sources like electric bulbs. The next question emerged, “so how does it concern women?”.

My experience with these three 11th grade students prompted me to introduce the concept of Climate Change to science students in the science club (JETS CLUB) of the school. I was simply amazed that in a class of over 100 students no one had an idea, not even a vague one of the concept of climate change…to me a challenge as looming as the climate change challenge in itself. If supposedly educated students in 10th and 11th grades are alien to the fact of a changing climate and its disastrous implications, then mitigation and adaptation, which for now are the only outs of this challenge of our time becomes non-feasible.

A 10-minute crash lecture on Climate Change brought the students to speed on the concept. Some students noted how rainfall patterns have remarkably changed today compared to their childhood days. Others said, they felt hotter these days (and I say it’s not exactly empirical evidence of a warming climate, it could just be a feeling) but we were getting somewhere. I was able to expose some of the implications of a changing climate on human existence: flooding of coastal towns, droughts and resulting famine, increased incidence of tropical diseases like malaria, water scarcity, food insecurity, migration as well as human security challenges. One smart student even asked me “Sir, if you say we are having less rainfall and consequently drought, how come sea level is rising and flooding occurs as a consequence of climate change?” Of course I gave a satisfying explanation.

A changing climate portends grave consequences especially for Africa, a continent which is already beleaguered with more problems than it can contend with. Mitigating climate change is a global imperative, but for Africa, a continent that contributes the least to climate change, adaptation to the devastating consequences of climate change is a more pressing need. Poverty, underdevelopment, lack of crises response mechanisms among others tetter Africa precariously on the verge of climate change impact abyss. Desertification, famine, spreading incidence of malaria to hitherto absent zones, stress on available natural resources like water and grazing pasture that result in conflicts are some of the challenges Africa needs to content with today.

This climate change series articles will adequately explore the concept of Climate Change, its implication on human existence, especially on Africa and also capture the disproportionate nature of the climate change implications on women as well as navigate through adaptation and mitigation strategies, which for an Africa aspiring to stay alive, are a modern-day imperative.

Watch this space…

Catfish Farming Basics: Before You Start…

Farming Catfish: An Option for Young People

Catfish farming is increasingly becoming an attractive form of agriculture for many Nigerians especially young people. Farming fish which belongs to the part of agriculture referred to as ‘aquaculture’ is catching the eye of many people as the prospects of profit, especially at first glance seem motivating enough. This form of agriculture has found a huge followers-base primarily due to the relative ease of culturing catfish, the readily available markets for catfish, e.g. with restaurants, especially as catfish is a treasured delicacy among many Nigerian cultures as well as the profitability of a successful catfish venture.

Many Nigerians involved in catfish farming use concrete ponds or plastic tanks. Both methods have their strengths and weaknesses and it is wise for the would-be catfish farmer to explore these perspectives before making a decision on which to adopt. While using concrete pond seems to be more natural to culturing catfish, plastic tanks can come handy where availability of space is a constraint. Using ponds also gives the farmer the leverage of culturing a relatively larger number of fishes as pond design can be tailored from the outset to match intended fish density. Culturing tanks are however limited in sizes and fixed, thus limiting the catfish farmer to stocking the tanks with a restricted number of fishes for best results.

African catfish usually takes an average of 5 months to reach table size. At this age they usually have attained an average weight of 1kg. The weight attained by catfish after 5 months is however variable depending on a number of factors that may include, quality of fingerlings used, quality of feeds, water management quality, absence of disease, stocking density among others. It is not uncommon to have fish weigh up to 1.5kg after five months.

The market price of African catfish is usually gauged per kg-weight of fish. This price varies across several geographical locations in Nigeria. On the average catfish can be sold for N450/kg in Lagos, N650/kg in Makurdi and 750/kg in Abuja. The market for catfish however is not lacking, irrespective of geographical location, disparities merely occur in the pricing of catfish: which is dependent on the dynamics of demand and supply.

Before venturing into catfish farming, it is pertinent to take a number of factors into consideration for success. Rearing catfish is not merely about buying fingerlings and ‘dumping’ them in a pond and then feeding them ‘thrice’ a day. From the outset the farmer should take time to put into consideration the following: quality of fingerlings, pond design, feeding program, water management and well as markets for harvested catfish.

Quality of Fingerlings: Catfish fingerlings are of different breeds, just like other species of animals. It is important that the catfish farmer takes his time to identify fast growing and disease resistant breeds of fingerlings to ensure profitability in a catfish venture. This can be done through appropriate consultation with a specialist in fingerlings and physically evaluating fingerlings from several farms before making a pick on stock of fingerlings.

Pond Design: Stocking density plays a huge role in the growth rate of cultured catfish. Like for all other animals over-crowding catfish would increase competition for resources like food and oxygen. This can promote the growth of some fish at the expense of others and in the end lead to cannibalism. Besides, pressure stresses due to over-stocking are bound to affect the all-round development of fish in the pond. Once stunted growth sets in from the outset it is bound to linger. Therefore the catfish farmer would want to consider an appropriate length, breadth and depth of pond, depending on his intended number of fishes to stock pond with. Also pond design should incorporate provision for the separation of fishes in the event that growth is non-proportionate to avoid cannibalism. Water management for pond would mean periodic changing of water and pond design should incorporate this from the outset to avoid challenges.

Feeding Catfish: This constitutes the bulk of the cost of rearing catfish, usually 60% and above. In most places  in Nigeria available catfish feeds are imported and cost an average of N5,500/15kg bag. A 15kg bag can take 700 two month old fishes just 10 days! While you are in a hurry to start reaping the profit from catfish culturing, be prepared beforehand for the challenge of feeding the fishes. Catfish can be fed once or twice a day. Excessive feeding of fingerlings increases the cost of rearing catfish and thus results in wastage as this may only result in marginal growth increases. Feeds are also a primary source of pond water pollution and excessive feeding constitutes a water management challenge. Thus the catfish farmer needs to strike a balance between feeding and water management. There are several subjective formulas used to determine an appropriate feeding program for fish. One is to provide as much feeds that fishes can finish in 5 – 10 minutes. This can then be used as the quantity of feed needed for ‘satiation’. Using this formula, catfish can be fed just once a day.

With respect to feeding catfish, an alternative for Nigerian farmers is the use of locally-made feeds. Unlike the imported counterpart, local feeds cost an average of N3,500/15kg bag without considerable growth implications. A challenge however would be to access sources of such local feeds as most parts of Nigeria are filled with the expensive imported feeds.

Water Management: A huge percentage of fish deaths have been related to water management issues. Pond design should take into consideration the pH of water (acidic water kills fish real fast, basic water is suitable for fingerlings and neutral water is required for fries (really tiny fishes)). It is also important to stimulate the growth of plankton by introducing manure into the pond before stocking with fingerlings. Oxygen requirement for fishes is dependent on an effective water management system as too much plankton growth results in competition for oxygen among plankton and catfish. Waste from fish as well as pollution from feeds also reduce the oxygen content of pond water, resulting in stresses on fish. An indication of declining oxygen is when fishes are seen for considerable periods on the water surface (trying to breathe better). Water should be replaced from time to time (though this can be a challenge in places where water availability is a problem).

This article is not specialized knowledge for the would-be catfish farmer but Food for Thought for anyone who intends to start a catfish farm. It is advisable to get specialized knowledge from appropriate sources. One such source for the Nigerian catfish farmer is the Corporate Fish Farm Nigeria website where a comprehensive catfish manual can be bought for just N5,000. Several internet sites would also provide ample knowledge on pond design, water management, managing catfish disease among others. For the Nigerian farmer also, it is important to be able to access markets for catfish (fingerlings, juveniles, table-sized fish, feeds, consultants, etc.). One invaluable resource in this regards is the Fish Farmers Meet Buyers Website.

Subsequent articles on catfish farming will look at the technicalities involved in catfish farming as well as provide helpful guides to the Nigerian catfish farmer on accessing profitable catfish markets (without having to relinquish a good part of the profit to middle-men retailers).

Drop a comment…it is still free.

 

To your warm embrace we return…

From your warm embrace we strayed

Lusting after mirages in barren deserts

Our seedlings and bans we set ablaze

Nodding with the carelessness of Lizards

 

Now we all seem cursed

Importing our very next lunch

Yet with tenderness you beckon

That we return to your warm touch

 

Worry no more dear mother

From this day the youth arise

To this humus we hurry thither

That new shoots may come alive

 

But you must understand

We come not with rusting tools

We’ll do this work in style

New breeds, ICTs and machines too

 

We hurry to you, mother – agriculture

Cultivating, livestock grazing, aquaculture

Mustering all the ‘swag’ to our endeavor

Building Agro-Empires our sheer lust.

 

 

Fish Farming

Watch video on fish farming below: