Piggery and Fish Farming Improving Family Income in Twashuka

Nkonde Mwila and I left at noon to visit Twashuka, an area in rural Mukonchi. Nkonde is a fieldworker for DAPP in charge of community groups called Village Action Groups (VAGs) surrounding three schools. We were on our way to visit George Ndashe and Bornface Chisenga two beneficiaries of the Child Aid project’s income generating activities. George is preparing to receive one large-white sow and Bornface is preparing to farm fish.

15 households will benefit from piggery and fish ponds in Mukonchi by the end of this year. In the next year another 45 will benefit from piggery, and then 135 in the last year of the project. By the end of the project 45 will benefit from fish ponds.

After an hour of biking though grassland and small forests, we arrived at George’s farm, a small brick home with a tin roof alongside an open hut for cooking and a raised goat shelter.

“Muli Shaani?” (How are you) I greeted him.

“Bwino, bwino madame. Ula landa icibemba! (Very fine, Madame. You speak Bemba!) he replied.

“No, no. Panoono. Nde sambilila icibemba” (No, no. Only a little. I’m learning Bemba).

“Ishina lyande nine Vera. Niwe ani ishina” I asked (My name is Vera. What is your name?)

“George Ndashe”

After this typical greeting we all went to see the temporary pig pen he’s constructing to receive pigs. Even the temporary two-roomed brick pen looked sturdy and he had reinforced it with some wood pegs. I could see that he is very committed to the program.

George is a very active in his community since he’s the VAG coordinator for his village. He’s been identified by the Community Agricultural Committees as a viable farmer that can benefit by beginning piggery and had to apply for a loan to receive pigs which included preparing a budget, conducting a risk assessment as well as making strategies to minimize them.

“I expect a lot of profit from this. I have made a budget and I’m going to construct a better pen, much bigger than this one with concrete on the floor.” George responded when asked how he will benefit from beginning piggery.

George was also eager to show others in his community how to follow his example: “I will be passing on this loan to three beneficiaries who have not yet benefited from any income generating activities.” After asking George some more questions about his preparation to receive the sow from DAPP Nkonde and I moved onto Bornface’s farm.

Bornface appeared to be a viable and hardworking farmer. As we through his farm together, I could see many rows of eggplant and rape (a local green leafy vegetables) which he grows in addition to his staple crops. Bornface’s first fish pond is 5m by 15m complete with clay soil heaped around. Grass is growing out of it to hold the soil to hold the soil in place. He is only awaiting the fingerlings (baby fish) and has already started constructing another fish pond.

In spite of his hard work preparing the pond, Nkonde and I noticed he was missing a barrier and drainage system to prevent the fish from falling over the edge of the pond during the rainy season. Nkonde and I left having realized that Bornface is also a highly capable beneficiary who could use some additional knowledge.

So far I have identified that farmers in the VAGs can benefit from some written pamphlets to ensure they have access to high quality information so that they can properly care for their livestock and manage their income generating activities. I’m noticing that EWB volunteers can humbly bring a new perspective to their projects so that they better serve their intended beneficiaries.