PRELIMINARY RESULTS IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PRIVATE TILAPIA FINGERLING PRODUCERS IN WESTERN KENYA WITH SOME CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE FUTURE TABLE OF CONTENTS

by

Zephania Otieno
Technical Officer
Lake Basin Development Authority

David Campbell
Chief Technical Advisor
Food and Agriculture Organization

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
BELGIAN SURVIVAL FUND
DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL SCALE FISH FARMING
IN THE LAKE BASION REGION, PHASE II
LAKE BASIN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

KISUMU, KENYA
JUNE 1995

LIST OF ABREVIATIONS

Abstract

Otieno, Z., and D. Campbell., 1995. Preliminary Results in the Establishment of Private Tilapia Fingerling Producers in Western Kenya with some Considerations for the Future. KEN/86/027 Field Document No. 3. FAO.

The initial results from training 16 small scale rural fish farmers in production techniques of fingerlings of Oreochromis niloticus, or tilapia, are analyzed. Over 15 months, the farmers produced and sold 46 900 tilapia fingerlings to other farmers, however none of the trained farmers adapted the techniques they were trained in. This was due largely to the lack of a consistant, reliable market for the fingerlings produced. The paper then analyses the steps that need to be taken in the future; assistance in marketing, on-farm training, the introduction of all-male tilapia farming, and poly-culture with Clarias gariepinus which should create more of a steady demand for tilapia fingerlings. The course syllabus for the farmers is given in an appendix.

PREPARATION OF THIS DOCUMENT

This document presents the initial results from the training of small scale rural fish farmers in the necessary techniques for production of tilapia fingerlings. The work was carried out in 1993–1994 in Migori District, Nyanza Province of Kenya under the auspices of the Lake Basin Development Authority in collaboration with the UNDP/BSF/FAO Project KEN/86/027 “Development of Small Scale Fish Farming in the Lake Basin Area, Phase II.” It is primarily aimed to assist the project staff in the future to implement a programme of privitization of Tilapia fingerling production.

This Field Document is one of a series of reports prepared during the course of the project identified on the title page. The conclusions and recommendations given in the report are those considered appropriate at the time of its preparation. They may be modified in the light of further knowledge gained at subsequent stages of the project.

The designations employed and the presentation of the material and maps in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations or the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Hyperlinks to non-FAO Internet sites do not imply any official endorsement of or responsibility for the opinions, ideas, data or products presented at these locations, or guarantee the validity of the information provided. The sole purpose of links to non-FAO sites is to indicate further information available on related topics.

This electronic document has been scanned using optical character recognition (OCR) software. FAO declines all responsibility for any discrepancies that may exist between the present document and its original printed version.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1. INTRODUCTION:

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS:

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

4. ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS:

4.1 Demand for Tilapia fingerlings:
4.2 Cost of production:

4.2.1 Pond surface area:
4.2.2 Feeding:
4.2.3 Other materials:
4.2.4 Transport:
4.2.5 Estimate of unit cost of production:

4.3 Tilapia fingerling prices:
4.4 Fingerling production versus grow out:

5. CONCLUSIONS:

6. RECOMMENDATIONS:

6.1 Establishment of a core of producers:
6.2 Determination of Tilapia transport techniques:
6.3 On-farm training of producers:
6.4 Support by the project:
6.5 Introduction of all male fingerling production:
6.6 Disposal of excess fingerling production:
6.7 The established producers:

APPENDIX A Course syllabus:
APPENDIX B Fish Transport Can:

LIST OF FIGURES

Map of Lake Basin Region:
Map of Migori District:
Design of Fish Transport Can, Appendix B: