TASCE Provost is also excited that the ADPN project will kick start the cultivation of the highly nutritional tilapia fish in his institution.
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
A solution-driven civil society organization, Solidaridad, along with other partners, launched the Aquaculture Development Project Nigeria (ADPN) at the Tai Solarin College of Education (TASCE), in Omu-Ijebu, Ogun State on Monday, September 12.
The initiative, funded by the Danida Market Development Partnerships (DMDP), aims to equip farmers with modern aquaculture techniques, promote agri-business among students, and kick start a demonstration fish pond at TASCE. The demonstration fish pond to be cited on 30,000 hectares of land provided by TASCE, will be the first of its kind in Africa. It has a solar-enabled power generation and can hold at least 30,000 fingerlings (baby fish).
The technology being deployed at the fishpond is called In-Pond Raceway Systems (IPRS). Unlike the old technique in fishpond where water is released to waste away, the IPRS allows for the recycling of water, says Akinyelu Blessing Oluwatomisi, head of aquaculture and livestock for Ijebu Development Initiative on Poverty Reduction (IDIPR), one of the partners for the project.
He says the waste is collected in one place and used for manure, while the water is channelled into a nearby vegetable farm. “Those types of waters are very rich in nutrients,” he says.
The ADPN is also underway at the Eriwe Fish Farm Village, the largest cooperative fish cluster in the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa, with more than 1,300 farmers cultivating catfish in over 4,000 traditional earthen ponds. It is being run by the Ijebu Development Initiative on Poverty Reduction.
Oluwatomisi says they are excited about the ADPN because it is going to help their farmers get an education on modern fish farming and the market for their stock.
The ADPN program officer, Emmanuel Fagbure, said the project aims to build the capacity of existing farmers in best aquaculture and farm management practices and provide vocational education for students.
“We realized that the value chain in aquaculture is wide, more than what Nigerian farmers are already tapping into. Up until now, what people believe is that the only thing you can do with catfish is to eat. But we have discovered other uses. Catfish are being used for pharmaceuticals, catfish are also being used for textiles,” he said.
He explained that the project has a curriculum for students, from basic, to intermediate and advanced.
He added: “The Intermediate course is for those who are already into fish farming but would want to build on that experience. The advanced is for those who have been successful or those who have failed in the business. The training is to equip them to do better.”
He said the training is both online and offline. “If you have your smartphone, you can download our application which we are soon going to launch, and have all the training right on your phone. For students, we have the combination of going to classrooms.”
Provost of TASCE, Dr Adeola Kiadese Lukman, says the partnership underscores the burning desire of the government of Ogun State led by Prince Dapo Abiodun to turn Ogun State into a throbbing headquarter of agricultural development, and consequently the food basket of the nation.
He says the impact of the project is enormous. “The students will learn modern practices when it comes to aquaculture production in such a way that at the end of the day, they can establish a business of their own instead of looking for jobs. The host community will benefit from the project in terms of capacity development when it comes to aquaculture production. So, this programme is an opportunity to enhance their capacity when it comes to the modern ways of aquaculture production.”
Dr Lukman is also excited that the ADPN project will kick start the cultivation of the highly nutritional tilapia fish.
“When you see most of the fishpond, they are raising catfish, Hardly will you see them raising tilapia fish,” he says.
He added: “It is one of the distinct things about the project. We are going to be training our students on how to raise tilapia fish. You know that tilapia fish is very scarce. Some of them are imported. But with this project, we will be raising tilapia fish here.”