Our Peace Corps assignment was to serve as rural fisheries extension agents of the national organization, Project Pisciculture Familiale (Family Fish Culture Project). In this capacity we traveled within remote villages and worked closely with approximately 70 farmers and villagers who were enthusiastic to improve the quality of their diet and to create a regular source of income for their families. Our job was principally that of teacher, guiding new farmers through evaluation of prospective pond sites, surveying, developing a construction plan, pond construction, stocking, pond husbandry, harvest and sales strategies. Finally our goal was to assist the farmers in establishing an autonomous farmers' group within which a core group of experienced individuals would continue to support and maintain interest of veteran farmers while generating excitement for new fish farmer recruits.

Our post encompassed an area 45 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide in south-central Bandundu, Zaire. Within this area, we worked in 35 different villages, which necessitated the use of motorcycles to visit our farmers frequently enough to be effective.

Tina's first bike could really be a pain and broke down all the time.

Some of the villages we worked in were inaccessible by motorcyle and had to be approached on foot - even over vine bridges!

Although fish culture had been introduced to the area during the colonial era, it was done in the same heavy-handed way other forms of "development" were imposed. Here farmers are gathered around a "traditional pond" receiving instruction on it's characteristics which contribute to poor production and a lack of durability.

Clarias sp. or Walking Catfish are a common, yet unproductive choice for stocking in "traditional ponds". As their name implies, they are able to travel over-land short distances, particularly in rainstorms. Finding their way into Tilapia ponds, they can cause heavy losses through predation.

Although Tilapia culture isn't new to the people in this area, the species which had been introduced prior to the P.P.F. proved slow-growing and unsuitable. These two fish, the newly introduced Tilapia nilotica (above) and the traditional choice Tilapia macrochir (below) were both stocked as 2 cm fingerlings at the same time in the same pond. Here, harvested after 4 months of culture, the superior growth characteristics of nilotica is obvious.

Using technology approriate to the situation is key to a sustainable development project. You'd be amazed at what ambitious and accurate surveying and construction can be accomplished with a string and a couple of meter sticks.

There is no better teacher than example. Veteran fish farmers give a real life demonstration of how to construct a strong base dike and lay in a drainage pipe while junior recruits look on.

The key to a good site is water; it must be a year-round source and adequate to supply all the ponds a farmer will build, yet not so strong that it is uncontrollable in the rainy season. Through proper management of water using supply and drain canals, a farmer can fill and drain all ponds without the use of a pump, thus relying entirely on local materials.

We encouraged farmers to set a goal to construct 6 ponds. Since ponds were harvested on a 6 month schedule this meant that if properly staggered, a farmer could harvest one pond every month thus paying himself a monthly salary. Once the first pond was completed, each additional pond could be constructed by simply adding two more dikes (one at the base of the pond and one on the drain canal side)

Tilapia are planktivores, meaning that they are able to filter and eat plankton from the water, utilizing specialized rakers on their gills. They benefit greatly from nutrient-rich, plankton-dense water and under such conditions can grow at incredible rates. A dedicated farmer's pond can always be recognized by the deep pea-green color he has managed to cultivate through an aggressive fertilizing program.

A pond harvest usually generates a lot of excitement in the village and can become very chaotic. These farmers have cut the dike and placed a net over the hole to collect the fish.

The typical way of draining ponds is to gradually cut a slice in the dike allowing the water to draw down in a controlled manner.

Great care must be taken when harvesting Tilapia in earthen ponds. Stepping into the middle of the pond during draw-down will cause many fish to be lost in the mud. When the pond is nearly drained, fish can be carefully collected near where the dike was cut. The total combined surface area of all ponds under management at our post was 1.42 hectares which sustained an average production of 3 tons/hectare/year of Tilapia nilotica.

A good sized 6 month old fish, the result of hard work and diligent culture, is a little bigger than your hand.

At an intensity of culture appropriate to the resources available, harvesting every 6 months is optimum. After the stocked fish reach reproductive age and the pond becomes crowded, diminishing returns are received for the amount of work required to sustain growth rates. This is a typical yield and range of fish sizes from a 75 square meter pond after 6 months of average culture. Adult stocked fish are in the blue plastic basket (bottom left). Offspring are in the porceleinware bowl and wood basket (middle, right).

80-90% of the harvest is sold pond-side to villagers who sometimes travel quite far to purchase fresh fish. This represents an amount of money which the average farmer would never see by other local means; money to pay for medicine, food staples, and manufactured goods. 10-20% of the fish is consumed within days by the farmer and his family, providing a rare and welcomed source of protein. Here, farmers are using a balance made from local materials to sell their fish by the kilo.

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