Tag Archives: aquaculture

Aquaculture: The Gift of Fish for Life!

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Tanzania aquaculture

Nicholas Mwakabelele took the spirit of Passing on the Gift to the extreme by giving tens of thousands of fish fingerlings away to his neighbors, including a blind man who once asked for a handout. Photo by Dave Anderson, courtesy of Heifer International.

Aquaculture, or the raising of fish under controlled conditions, accounts for half of the world’s food fish. In Heifer’s aquaculture projects, participants receive the gift of fish fingerlings and training in farming techniques specific to their area of the world. Such a gift very quickly improves family nutrition with the lean healthy protein of fish such as tilapia.

Plus, it’s easy to sell fish for income so families can achieve financial independence and Pass on the Gift of fingerlings to empower entire communities. One of Heifer’s most inspiring stories of Passing on the Gift comes from a fish-farming project in Mambi village, Tanzania, where Heifer participant Nicholas Mwakabelele (above), was the first in the area to become successful at fish farming. He often got requests from neighbors who wanted to buy a few fish for dinner, but when he met neighbor Wailos Nzalayaluma (below), both of their lives would forever change.

Tanzania aquaculture

Disease blinded Wailos Nzalayaluma before he could finish school. He is now able to provide income for himself and his mother through fish farming. Photo by Dave Anderson, courtesy of Heifer International.

Wailos is blind, and he asked Nicholas to give him a few fish for his family’s dinner. But Nicholas had a better idea. Instead, he helped Wailos build his own fish pond and then donated fish fingerlings to him so he could grow his own and never be hungry again. The two continue to work side by side as fish farmers in the community. Read their full story here in Heifer’s World Ark magazine.

Heifer currently supports 63 aquaculture projects in 10 countries including Brazil, Ecuador, Honduras, Haiti, Estonia, Thailand, China, Philippines, Cambodia and Tanzania.

Give now to help families like these in Tanzania start their own aquaculture projects.

This post is part of our What to Give series, where we’re helping you choose the best Heifer gift for your loved ones. Read previous What to Give posts here, and subscribe to the What to Give series here.

Still don’t know what to give? Visit our full catalog page here.

Are You Part of the Green Economy?

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World Environment Day 2012 logo

Today is the 40th annual World Environment Day, and this year’s theme is “Green Economy: Does it include you?”

Fromt their the United Nation’s Environment Programme’s website:

The UN Environment Programme defines the Green Economy as one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. In its simplest expression, a green economy can be thought of as one which is low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive.

I consider myself absolutely part of the Green Economy–perhaps doubly so–here at Heifer International. Not only is the office I report to every day a LEED Platinum-rated building with 100 solar panels, a large part of what we do is to help build the green economy in the developing countries where we work.

From biogas and other energy-saving stoves to aquaculture, we help our project communities take our interventions beyond subsistence to develop commercially viable, market-oriented industries with an eye toward reducing environmental harm.

What about you? Are you part of the Green Economy? Tell us how in the comments section.

In Vietnam, There’s Strong Belief For a Bright Future

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In December 2011, we paid a visit toa family in Heifer project in Binh Thanh village, Thanh Phu district, Ben Treprovince. In front of the clean leaf-thatched house, the wife, Nguyen Thi Diem,warmly welcomed us. Her husband, Tran Van Tuan, was recycling the pond for newshrimp. The couple has three children; two daughters and one son. Theschool-aged eldest daughter dropped out of school and worked in another city tosupport the family. The middle is in grade 6 and the youngest son is at nurseryschool.


Tran told us about the hardshipthat his family endured several years ago. They started the family life withempty hands because their parents were too poor to support them. The couple hadto stay on the land borrowed from a neighbor. After five years working as hiredlaborers, their savings was enough for them to buy a 5,000 square meter paddy field. Itwas not easy for five people living on the income from such a small piece of cultivated land. The couple continued working as hired laborers. Tran also wentfishing and worked as a mason for extra income.

In 2010, the couple joined Heiferproject. The project supported them with a heifer, 1,000 post larvae shrimp and thefunding for a cowshed and income-generating activities. Diem used therevolving fund for duck and chicken production that benefited them with income andeggs for their daily meals. Every day, the husband keeps fishing and working asa mason. He wants to be a skillful mason so that he could build a house by hisown for his family.

Tran attended many technical trainings held by Heifer inwhich he learned how to tend the cow and raise shrimp. “Now I know how to feedthe cow and take care of the cow in breeding season. I also know some symptomsof the heat period and cow’s diseases. My cow is in a good state of heath. She isgoing to give birth next month. The post larvae are growing well. I hope we will gain high profit,” Tran says.

His wife was also eager to join othertrainings of Heifer such as Cornerstones, gender equity, environmentprotection and climate change. “After attending the training onenvironment protection, we decided to build a toilet to keep the surroundingenvironment clean,” Nguyen says. She happily shared with us about the changes of her family afterjoining the project. “My husband is friendlier and more opened to other people.At home, he also helps me with housework. The children also help us cut grass to feed the cow and do some house chores. We are very happy whensharing everything together.”

The couple proudly showed us the meritcertificate of good study records of the middle daughter. In the spirit of sharingand caring, the couple is willing to help other people when needed. They evengave up their round to other fellow group members who need the loan most fromthe group savings fund.


The couple hopes that their animalproduction could give them high profit so that they could realize their dreamof a concrete house and support their children to school. Tran sincerelyexpressed his gratefulness to Heifer for helping his family, “Thanks Heifer somuch for giving us a chance to get rid of poverty. I believe that with Heifer’ssupport, my family will have a big and valuable asset after passing on. Accordingly,I hope that Heifer will thrive and continue to assist more needy farmers whohave the same background like my family.”


Editor’s note: This post is part of a new series that follows the progress of specific families, starting at the beginning of their work with Heifer. Initially, this series will focus on our programs in Asia/South Pacific, where our colleagues have chosen one family in each region in the countries where we work and will bring us quarterly updates.

Heifer in Haiti: Show Me the Story

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A view of Lake Peligre from the mountains on the way to a Heifer International cage-fishing project.
Editor’s Note: Writer Katya Cengel and Photographer Geoff Oliver Bugbee traveled to Heifer projects in Haiti Sept. 11-18 for Heifer’s World Ark magazine. Below, Katya’s account illustrates how difficult it is for Haitians as well as employees of organizations working there to get to remote locations. Frequent natural disasters, environmentally denuded hillsides and lack of infrastructure make the work in Haiti that much more challenging. Click here for all of their blog posts from the trip as well as news from the Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York this week.
Story by Katya Cengel
Images by Geoff Oliver Bugbee
As a reporter I always like toobserve my subject’s lives rather than just hear them talk about them. When Ican see and feel something I can describe it better, thereby showing readerssomething instead of simply telling them about it. I did not realize howliterally this preference would be taken on our visit to a cage-fishing projectin Lake Peligre.
The community of Ti Trou in the lower Central Plateau region ofHaiti is rimmed by mountains on three sides and Lake Peligre on the fourth. Theplan was for a motor-powered boat to pick us up by the Peligre hydroelectricdam and take us across the lake, the second largest in Haiti, to the community.
There was only one problem: theboat’s motor wasn’t working.
That is when the adventure began.
In the absence of a motor boat wedecided to make the journey across the water shorter. Thus instead of exitingour vehicle and hopping in the boat near the dam, we drove further up themountain and exited the vehicle midway up and directly opposite the community.
At first it didn’t seem so badbecause there were stone steps leading down towards the lake. But the stepswere soon replaced by dirt and stone outcroppings made dangerously smooth frommany feet having traversed them. I opted to slide on my butt on the slickestparts. At the bottom of the mountain we shared a shady spot with several pigsand waited for the boat to arrive.
The first sign of trouble was whenwe glimpsed the motored boat, and a man using oars to move it. The second waswhen we noticed him bailing water from the craft.
Writer Katya Cengel travels across Lake Peligre in Haiti.
It turned out the motor was sortof working — it would go at a very low speed that required additional manpowerin the form of rowing. We made it across in about 40 minutes. Then we climbedthe other side of the mountain to the home of a fisherman who had receivedfingerlings from Heifer International as part of a new cage-fishing project.The man expected his crop of caged fish to be ready to harvest very soon andhoped to earn enough money from their sale to keep his children in school.
As we spoke with the family wenoticed clouds developing overhead and heard thunder in the distance. Thusbegan our trek back down the mountain, our row across the lake and our hikeback up the mountain on the opposite side.
Only this time there were quite afew more stairs on the other side of the mountain where we exited the boat,more than 400 to be exact. Did I mention that we did not pack extra water forthis trip?  Fresh coconut juice handed tous by a guy with a machete can only carry you so far during strenuous exercisein extreme heat.
Long, arduous walks and hard work are part of life in Haiti.
Along the route we passed severalwomen carrying their washing to the water. They traversed the difficult terrainquickly and easily, making our efforts seem sloth-like. The idea of a gym andstair master would have been baffling to these women who travel the mountainousregion daily. My calves felt the difficulty our family across the lakeexperiences whenever they need to go to the market, get to school or visit adoctor. For them it is an arduous, time consuming and expensive journey,because they do not own a boat and so have to pay someone to row them acrossthe water.
As for us, we made it back to the vehicle eventually, then waited out the storm in a littleone-room restaurant where we enjoyed chicken, rice and beans, plantains andlots of orange soda.

Catfish Fingerlings Mean Hope for Indonesian Women

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Heifer project participants and community members pass on catfish fingerlings at a ceremony in the village of Pematang Cengal.
  
Our colleagues Afrina Sagala and Priska Panggabean wrote this story about a recent Passing on the Gift ceremony in North Sumatra, Indonesia. 

It was a sunny day in the village of Pematang Cengal and a happy day for the Tunas Jaya I Self Help Group (SHG). On that day the group of women had elected to join together in the fish raising enterprise. They share the labor to prepare fishponds with hope they will get additional income from this activity.

They were very enthusiastic; before, they only knew how to sow the fingerlings which they bought in the market. Previously they did not know how to prepare the land and did not know how to select and buy the fingerlings, make ponds, and manage the feed. They have high enthusiasm that this effort will succeed because they had training on how to cultivate catfish farming.

Those women also took their children and their husbands to witness the event, pray together, and wish success to the women who received the catfish fingerlings that will increase their family incomes.

Raising the catfish is one of the group’s activities. Others are plastic made flower design and building a daily needs store. The women groups are really excited with these group activities because before Heifer came to their village and implemented the program partnership, they never did useful and valuable activities. They can help their husbands with improved family income. And in two months they expect to have the fingerlings ready to sell.

Tunas Jaya I group is a remarkable group as well as other SHGs, because they are accompanied by extraordinary partners. Srikandi is one of the Heifer Indonesia’s project partners who committed to help the groups and community overcome hunger and poverty. The project partner has all women who have to travel 1 1/2 hour by motorbike just to reach this village.

The group is committed to help one another fulfill their dream of a brighter future for their families and the community. Ibu Farida (one of the group member) said that they wanted to thank Heifer’s supporters from around the world who had showed that they care about the communities and the communities’ children. Now, they have a new hope after Heifer worked there. They will take care of this program with all their heart and they promised they will do pass-on activities for the fingerlings and the goats they had received with happiness.

Afrina Sagala is a program officer for Heifer Indonesia and Priska Panggabean is
Regional Program Manager for North Sumatra.
Fish ponds in the village of Pematang Cengal 

He Went to Jail for Heifer

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Photo by Dave Anderson

Heifer Tanzania is the first country in Africa to offer fish-farming projects, and it’s been both a challenge and a blessing for those with the pluck to give it a try.

Nicholas Mwakabele built his ponds in 2003 and quickly saw the benefits of raising Nile tilapia. His family ate well and grew healthier, and soon neighbors heard of his project and came around to check it out. He trained two villages on fish farming and gave away countless fingerlings. He began to earn a profit, despite all the fish he gave away, and started making bricks to build a new house as his business and recognition grew.

Yet not everyone was pleased. The government water authority heard about his ponds and came stomping up, saw the pooled water and demanded he stop.

“I was arrested and thrown in jail,” Mwakabele said. “They said I was wasting the water. But it was their ignorance. I told them that I was not using the water in a bad way, but instead was conserving it.

“I told them, go ahead, put me in jail, but I will not stop the fish farming because I am not wasting water.”

He sat in jail for several days, then was sentenced to community service, as if giving away tens of thousands of fish fingerlings and training his neighbors in a sustainable business was not service enough.

Heifer’s Country Director Peter Mwakabwale came to his rescue, educating the government on the conservation benefits of the project. Within a year, the same district officials who tossed him in jail built him a fish pond worth $5,000 on his land.

Nicholas Mwakabele was also honored by Tanzania’s Uhuru Torch Team, who traveled to his farm to give him the award. A huge national honor, the Uhuru (or Independence) torch, is brought out every year on the anniversary of Tanzanian independence (December 9, 1961) to celebrate those who shed light over the country and bring unity among all its people.