Fishingforsuccess

Innovative solutions unleash the full potential of Zimbabwe’s aquaculture

Zimbabwean farmer Abel Gurupira used to think that aquaculture had nothing to do with cattle breeding. As a fact, at Milan Wood, his 15-hectare farm in Mashonaland West Province, fish, cattle and poultry used to be raised separately. But things changed after the visit of Pan Tingshuang, a Chinese aquaculture expert, in the region.

After visiting the farm in 2016, Pan approached Gurupira with a surprising idea: he could feed the small organisms living in the pond - such as plankton - with the fermented feces of his poultry and oxen. This would increase the number of primal organisms in the pond, giving fish an additional source of food - thus increasing productivity. Gurupira was excited at this innovative solution. “Fish do not eat excrement. But fermenting it to create a new source of food is a great idea,” he said. “This creates a virtuous cycle.”

Today, this rationalized system where aquaculture is integrated with cattle and poultry farming allows him not only to reduce his production costs, but also to take advantage of waste that would otherwise pose an environmental problem.

This is one of many examples of the change Pan brought to Zimbabwe after his arrival in November 2015 as a member of the fourth Chinese agricultural mission there, which was organized by China’s Ministry of Agriculture. Throughout his two-year stint in the country, he has always stayed true to his initial mission: to help unleash the great potential of Zimbabwe’s aquaculture.