Talapia Africa chickens, pigs


Two different spellings are valid I think. 

Tilapia Africa chickens, pigs

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sent: 25 May 02
Subject: Farming fish (Tilapia)

I got some interesting information in a fish store yesterday.

The old man who ran the place said that in some of the poor parts of Africa that 
they feed corn to chickens that are caged so that the droppings fall into a pig 
cage. The pig?s droppings fall through wire mesh into a pond that becomes food 
for Tilapia fish.  The fish, pigs, chickens are all farmed in this manner.  The 
pond is used to irrigate the corn crop.   

In the following I have attempted to find more information on this.  If anyone 
else has information please post it. 

Agriculture food and nutrition for Africa - A resource book for
Teachers of agriculture
 http://www.fao.org/docrep/w0078e/w0078e00.htm#TopOfPage
http://www.fao.org/docrep/w0078e/w0078e06.htm#P4641_298753

Tilapia aurea
http://www.ksuaquaculture.org/fish.tilapia.htm

Biodiversity and Conservation: A Hypertext Book by Peter J. Bryant
http://darwin.bio.uci.edu/~sustain/bio65/lec07/b65lec07.htm

Tilapia (whole) fresh/live/frozen available wholesale
We have tilapia available to retailers and wholesalers grown to one to one-and-
a-half pounds. The fish are available whole only. Live or frozen. The fish are 
blue with a red crest, and are delicious. We can offer very competitive prices, 
consistent and on-schedule delivery, great customer service, and a wonderful 
product. Please contact me with any questions.
(954) 520-5463
jeremy@webguild.com
Thanks, 
Jeremy Davis
http://cherrysnapper.com/bbs/messages/360.html
http://cherrysnapper.com/bbs/index.sht

An Interesting Travel report.
Most of the people living in the rural areas of Congo are subsistence farmers. 
Also, like CAR, in much of Congo the main staple food is cassava or plantain 
bananas.  ??.  By
1990 there were over 2,000 fishponds producing fish. Tilapia (Oreochromis 
niloticus) is the fish of choice for fish farming in the Congo. As in CAR, the 
more experienced farmers also were encouraged to grow local catfish (Clarius 
gariepinus) in a “polyculture” with tilapia .

http://www.ksuaquaculture.org/AfricaWeek3.htm

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most of the people living in the rural areas of
                            Congo are 
                            subsistence farmers. Also, like CAR, in much of 
Congo the
                            main staple food 
                            is cassava or plantain bananas. Many different types 
of
                            vegetables and 
                            fruits are eaten. During this time of year there is 
a native fruit
                            called 
                            nsafu that is abundant in villages throughout much 
of the
                            country. The 
                            fruit is oval shaped and purple in color when ripe. 
It has a
                            skin like a 
                            plum, but with a soft, greenish avocado like flesh 
underneath
                            and a large, 
                            smooth seed in the middle. The nsafu is boiled, 
often eaten
                            with salt or 
                            sometimes with sugar, and it is sometimes served on 
a stick
                            (like a 
                            lollipop). It is not sweet and can be a little sour 
and/or bitter if
                            not 
                            ripe. While there is not a lot of cattle here as in 
CAR, goats,
                            chickens, 
                            ducks, pigs are the typical livestock. And, of 
course, some
                            fish is also 
                            raised. Hunting and fishing still provide 
significant amounts of
                            protein, 
                            especially in the northern part of the country.

                            Congo?s history of fish farming parallels closely 
that of CAR.
                            Fish farming 

                            fits well with the farming practices in the Congo 
and provides
                            both an 
                            important source of nutrition, particularly protein, 
and income.
                            During the 
                            1970’s and 1980’s, with the assistance of FAO/PNUD,
                            fish farming was 
                            encouraged, especially in the southern part of 
Congo. By
                            1990 there were 
                            over 2,000 fish ponds producing fish. Tilapia 
(Oreochromis
                            niloticus) is the 
                            fish of choice for fish farming in the Congo. As in 
CAR, the
                            more 
                            experienced farmers also were encouraged to grow 
local
                            catfish (Clarius 
                            gariepinus) in a “polyculture” with tilapia. This 
was feasible
                            during a time 
                            when catfish fingerlings were being produced at the 
large
                            government fish 
                            station (Djoumouna) located just outside of 
Brazzaville. Good
                            quality 
                            supplemental fish feeds could be purchased fairly 
easily
                            including 
                            by-products from wheat milling, peanut oil 
extraction and beer
                            brewing. 
                            Available agricultural by-products were also used to 
develop
                            a low-cost pig 
                            ration and the association of pork production and 
fish
                            production increased 
                            profitability of fish farming even more.

                            Though the demand for fish is still high, presently, 
there are
                            not a lot of 
                            fish ponds in production in the Congo. Principle 
among the
                            reasons for this 
                            situation is the fact that during the 1990?s, the 
Republic of
                            Congo suffered 
                            a period of civil unrest and instability. Many 
people, especially
                            in the 
                            southern part of the country, had to leave their 
homes to find
                            safer places 
                            to stay, often far from their villages and farming 
activities. In
                            their 
                            absence, the fish ponds were often emptied of water 
and the
                            fish harvested. 

                            Today the country is, thankfully, at peace and the
                            government is working to 
                            put itself and the economy back together. Most 
people have
                            returned to there 
                            homes, but are still a bit wary about re-investing 
the time and
                            effort into 
                            their fish ponds. A few people that I had an 
opportunity to
                            visit are just 
                            now stocking their first ponds with fish and many 
more are
                            putting their 
                            ponds back into shape. Unfortunately, some people 
are not
                            finding it easy to 
                            get started again as they have to deal with things 
like the
                            loss of their 
                            tools, a shortage of fingerlings, dams and dikes 
that have
                            been destroyed 
                            often leaving ponds without access to water, and 
theft.

                            As usual, in the first days after my arrival in 
Brazzaville, I met
                            with 
                            Republic of Congo and FAO officials. I developed my 
work
                            plan which has 
                            included both researching the FAO archives and 
making trips
                            around 
                            Brazzaville and into the countryside. The first fish 
ponds I
                            visited were 
                            those at the large national fish station at 
Djoumouna, just
                            outside 
                            Brazzaville. The fish station was abandoned during 
the
                            troubles and most of 
                            the buildings were damaged and most of the records 
lost.
                            With the help of a 
                            small grant from the Italian Embassy, a couple 
fingerling
                            production ponds 
                            and the canal system is being put back into shape. 
Other
                            ponds, some new and 
                            others abandoned, belonging to private individuals 
were also
                            visited in and 
                            around Brazzaville.

                            This past Wednesday, 09 January, we packed up the 4
                            wheel-drive and headed 
                            up-country towards Mindouli, a city about 180 miles 
west of
                            Brazzaville. 
                            During the 4 days on the road, I met with local 
government
                            officials, fish 
                            farming extension agents, and visited fish farmers 
and their
                            ponds. The area 
                            visited, in particular, was deeply impacted during 
the recent
                            civil unrest. 
                            There were still visible signs of a terrible, 
troubled time. As an
                            example, 
                            when I visited here years ago I traveled on an 
asphalted road
                            and it took us 
                            about 4 hours to get to Mindouli. 

                            Today, the asphalt has all but disappeared and it 
took us 6
                            hours to get just 
                            half the distance. Although the road was rugged and 
the trip
                            rough, it was good 
                            to see that people are starting to get their lives 
back to
                            normal and despite 
                            the difficulties and many hardships they are 
presently faced
                            with. There?s still
                            a lot of interest in fish farming and the people I 
spoke with
                            understood clearly 
                            the benefits. It?ll take some time and a lot of 
work, but people
                            here, and in Africa in 
                            general, are hard working and very resilient. They 
will be
                            back on their 
                            feet and fish farms will be back on the map.

                            All for now,

                            Gordon

http://www.ksuaquaculture.org/AfricaWeek3.htm
