In 1999, Osman Mohammed and ten other community
members introduced fish farming into their area with support from
USAID/Malawi’s COMPASS Project. Since then, Osman has increased
the number of ponds he owns to five and has become a successful
commercial fish farmer.
Osman’s five fish ponds are integrated with irrigated vegetables,
fruit trees and sugarcane. He uses the drainage water from fish
ponds to irrigate his crops, which also enriches soil fertility.
Surplus vegetables and corn husks are used to feed the fish.
Osman supports his own family, his 7 sisters and brothers and
their families, plus 4 grandchildren and manages to pay fees for
his children at good schools. In 2005, the five fish ponds provided
Osman and family with an income of $1339 from a total harvest
of 950 kilograms of fish, which greatly exceeds many Malawian
families who live on less than $1 per day.
Because of the income Osman generates from selling fruit, vegetables
and fish, he is one of the wealthiest members of his rural community.
Many rural households in Malawi this year are facing severe food
shortages. However, if the resource management practices used
by Osman were more widely adopted, food insecurity could be significantly
reduced in rural Malawi.
COMPASS and the World Fish Center Southern Africa regional office
in Malawi are developing a Malawi Gold Standard set of best aquaculture
practices to promote more widespread adoption of successes such
as that of Mr. Mohammed. Osman credits his success to hard work
and the technical assistance that he and his colleagues received
so far from USAID/COMPASS, the World Fish Center, and the Department
of Fisheries National Aquaculture Centre.
