Hatchery loan scheme nets better fingerlings for fish farmers
3 February 2011

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The aquaculture platform, established by RIU Malawi, developed a revolving innovation fund for disbursing strategic investments to commercial fish farmers for upgrading hatcheries. Loans are made with the agreement that they pay back the initial capital after they start selling the fingerlings they produce.

RIU has just agreed its fourth such loan to a hatchery in the northern region of Malawi.

500 brood stocks of improved Oreochromis shiranus (tilapia) were supplied from the National Aquaculture Centre to the hatchery for production of fingerlings. The production of fingerlings at this hatchery will service fish farmers in the northern region. In the past these farmers had to source fingerlings from Domasi station (Zomba) in the southern region. Farmers incurred significant expense in making this journey and also experienced a high mortality rate of fingerlings during transit.

Nobel Moyo, RIU Malawi country coordinator, said:

"Through the loan scheme and our work on hatchery guidelines we are bringing about high quality fingerling production in close proximity to the fish farmers.

Between October and December 2010 some 50,000 fingerlings of improved strain of tilapia were distributed to farmers in Thyolo, Mulanje and Zomba, sourced from a private hatchery operator in the south. We will soon carry out a similar exercise in the central region to meet demand from farmers.

This work is not only creating profitable fish farming enterprises but by reducing costs and improving the quality of fingerlings it should also impact on food security and access to protein for ordinary Malawians."