Objectives

1) To increase the pond management skills of fisheries personnel currently involved in aquaculture extension activities in Kenya.
2) To enhance the research and extension capabilities of Kenyan university students likely to be employed in the aquaculture sector.

Significance
Production from capture fisheries in Kenya is approaching maximum sustainable yields, and the total catch of fish from Lake Victoria has stagnated over the last four years. Aquaculture production must be increased to compensate for the shortfall in overall fish production in Kenya (Government of Kenya, 1996).

Aquaculture in Kenya has evolved from a sport fishery on rainbow trout at the beginning of the century to predominantly small-scale subsistence farming, mainly using species that are endemic to the region such as tilapia. Culture of introduced species, such as common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and black bass (Micropterus salmoides), has had varying degrees of success. Tilapia have been under culture in static water ponds in Kenya since 1924, and the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) is the main species cultured today (Ngugi and Wangila, 1996).

Annual aquaculture yield in Kenya had leveled off at about 1,200 metric tons by about 1990, less than 1% of Kenya’s total annual fish harvest (Achieng, 1994). Reports on the status of aquaculture in Kenya vary, with the number of ponds ranging from 25,000 to 40,000. Productivity is low; average production from individual ponds in one province was estimated at less than 500 kg/ha/year. The key constraint to aquaculture production reported by fisheries officers in all provinces is a lack of adequate technical skills among fisheries officers, leading to the transfer of unproductive technology to farmers (CRSP Workshop, 1997). Training in fish handling and pond management skills for fisheries extension officers at several administrative levels will translate into better information for farmers and improved pond management and increased fish production in the country.

Aquacultural growth in the near future will be influenced by university students. Unfortunately, support of graduate students seeking specialization in aquaculture and guidance and support of students during the design and conduct of field studies in aquaculture are often limited due to financial constraints. Wangila (1996) points to the need to include more technical certificate and diploma and higher level training in training plans for the aquaculture sector.

Anticipated Benefits
This activity will provide fisheries extension workers with improved fish handling and pond management skills and lead to the dissemination of better fish culture information to the farmers. Short training courses will improve morale and technical confidence among extensionists. Linkages between research and extension activities in Kenya will be strengthened. Ultimately, better pond management by farmers will lead to increased fish production, increased farm income, increased amounts of fish available to communities and markets, and increased employment opportunities. Support and hands-on guidance of graduate students in aquaculture will strengthen their degree programs and ultimately help promote productive and sustainable aquaculture growth in Kenya and in the region.

Activity Plan
Fisheries Extension Officer Training
Training will be provided for fisheries extension officers at four levels: fish scouts, fisheries assistants, assistant fisheries officers, and fisheries officers. Fifteen 7-day training sessions will be organized as follows: Training sessions will be conducted at provincial fish demonstration and farmers training centers, Ukwele Pastoral Centre (for the western region), Matuga Development Centre (coastal region), Bethany Catholic Centre (eastern region), or Sagana Fish Farm.

Trainees will be invited to apply for admission to the courses and their supervisors will be asked to recommend them. Two trainers will conduct each training session. The CRSP on-site researcher at Sagana will assure the course content is up to date and will provide some hours of instruction. The majority of the training hours will be undertaken by Kenyan trainers to be named. Subject matter to be covered will vary according to the service level and previous training of trainees, but will concentrate on basic pond management skills such as fish handling, fish feeding, pond fertilization and management, water quality management, and record keeping. Course notes will be printed and made available to selected farmers as well. Emphasis will be placed on practical field work, with only about 25% of training time being spent in a classroom setting.

Student Stipends
Short-term stipends will be provided to support research conducted by Kenyan university students at the Sagana Fish Farm. Research must be part of an aquaculture-related degree program, and the subject area must be approved by the CRSP US researcher at Sagana. Subject areas will include topics such as fish production and feeding, N and P budgets, and phyto- and zoo-plankton dynamics. Stipends will normally cover periods of six to twelve months each.

Full Scholarships
Full two-year scholarships will be provided to two selected Masters level students during the period of this Work Plan. Candidates will be invited to apply for these scholarships, and their selection will be based criteria such as academic qualifications, proposed research topics, recommendations from undergraduate instructors, previous performance in the extension sector, and interviews. The main objective is to train personnel who can subsequently function as links between the research and extension sectors. Their future roles will be to evaluate research results and translate them into extension messages.

Regional Integration
This activity directly addresses Objective 2 of the PD/A CRSP Regional Plan for Africa (PD/A CRSP, 1997), which is “to assist in the development and conduct of aquaculture training courses and programs, with emphasis on pond operation and management.”

Schedule
Training sessions will be held approximately monthly, beginning about December 1998 and finishing up around the end of November 2000.

Report Submission
The final report for this activity will be submitted in March 2001. Training courses and total hours will be summarized in quarterly reports.

References
Achieng, A.P., 1994. Aquaculture development and research in Kenya. In: Andre G. Coche (Editor), Aquaculture Development and Research in Sub-Saharan Africa, National Reviews. CIFA Technical Paper No. 23 Suppl. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, pp. 169-207.

CRSP Planning Workshop. 1997. Unpublished proceedings of the CRSP-sponsored Planning Workshop, Sagana Fish Farm, Sagana, Kenya, 17-19 September, 1997.

Government of Kenya, 1996. National Development Plan, 1997-2001. Government Printer, Nairobi, Kenya, 254 pp.

PD/A CRSP, 1997. Working paper on regional plans. July, 1997. Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture Collaborative Research Support Program, Oregon State University. Corvallis, Oregon, 26 pp.

Objectives

1) To identify and establish one or more companion sites for the Africa Region.
2) To define and implement investigations at the companion site in support of PD/A CRSP and companion site goals.

Significance
Research at an African site has been a major component of the PD/A CRSP since its beginning in 1982, first at the Rwasave Fish Culture Station in Rwanda, and since early 1997 at the Sagana Fish Farm in Kenya. During this 15-year period, research efforts have centered almost entirely around the Rwasave Station and nearby areas where on-farm trials were conducted. Under the CRSPs new five-year grant (1996-2001), part of our mandate is to regionalize our efforts, extending the validity and benefits of CRSP research and training beyond the immediate vicinity of prime sites and into surrounding regions and countries. Contact and communication with scientists at aquaculture research institutions and extension program personnel is one way to achieve such regionalization, and these types of activities are planned as part of the “Regional Outreach” activity outlined elsewhere in this Work Plan.

Verification of CRSP research results and strengthening of institutions can also be achieved through the complementary activity of initiating collaboration and supporting research at companion sites. This type of effort was promoted in the PD/A CRSP Continuation Plan and accepted by the granting agency as a valid approach. In this activity we will establish at least one companion site. The first such site will probably be in East Africa, but a second site may also be established in West Africa, thus extending the effectiveness of the CRSPs effort in the Region. The selected Companion Site(s) will be ready for “investigations” such as holding CRSP protocol workshops and conducting experiments, which will be included in a subsequent CRSP Work Plan, if any.

Anticipated Benefits
Africa is the source of great genetic variation in the Oreochromis genus. The aquacultural potential of many O. niloticus strains remains untested. In order to reduce the risk of genetic contamination, a logical first step in strain evaluations is performance testing in the region where a strain is endemic. Companion sites provide great opportunities for carrying out this process.

The CRSP Central Database will be broadened through the inclusion of data from additional sites in Africa. The validity of CRSP-sponsored research results can be verified for areas away from the prime site. Companion site researchers will benefit from data collected during the course of experiments. Improved fish farming methods resulting from the experiments will be available for adaptation by extension services and adoption by fish farmers in the areas around companion sites. Ultimately, fish farmers in new areas will experience increased fish yields and greater amounts of fish will be available for consumption in communities and markets in those areas.

Activity Plan
During Year 1 of the Ninth Work Plan, contacts previously made with officials at potential companion sites will be reestablished and earnest discussions on the possibility of collaborating with the CRSP will be initiated. Discussions will occur via telephone, fax, or email as much as possible, but a site visit by the US researcher posted at Sagana or one of the US PIs may also be needed. Discussions will include evaluations of the physical facilities at each site and their suitability and availability for CRSP research, the availability of qualified researchers for carrying out experimental work, the potential for student involvement in the research, and the amount of site development that would be needed to prepare a given site for CRSP experimental work. Areas of research that will be mutually useful, i.e., that would not only advance lines of investigation already being pursued by the CRSP but also address needs of fish farmers in the vicinity of the companion site, will be identified. Training needs of potential companion sites will be assessed so that when possible these can be addressed in future work plan activities. If the CRSP researcher at the Prime Site in Africa (Sagana) and the project’s Principal Investigators agree that a site is suitable and that both the regional goals of the CRSP and the needs of local fish farmers would be served by a collaborative effort there, a proposal to collaborate will be put forward and the process of establishing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be initiated.

The sites that will be actively investigated as possible companion sites include Bunda College of Agriculture (Malawi), Kingolwira Aquaculture Center (Tanzania), and Akosombo Aquaculture Research and Development Center (Ghana). Additional sites may also be investigated. Criteria for the selection of suitable companion sites are identified in the CRSP grant (Continuation Plan, pages 69-72). Companion sites need not be in the same country as a prime site, but should meet as many of these criteria as possible: proximity to the regional prime site, shared or complementary environment (with the prime site), potential for future development, proportionally reduced investment requirements, low personnel and operation costs, integrated research objectives, and healthy political relationships between the respective governments (prime and companion site countries).

Once a suitable MOU is established, composite soil and water samples will be analyzed to characterize the site and a standardizing investigation that is of interest to companion site researchers and consistent with PD/A CRSP goals will be planned and initiated. Treatments suitable for this type of investigation include one of the bran/fertilizer treatments described in the Eighth Work Plan, Study KR3, or one of the follow-on treatments proposed for the Ninth Work Plan feed trial (“Fish Yields and Economic Benefits of Tilapia/Clarias Polyculture in Fertilized Ponds Receiving Commercial Feeds or Pelleted Agricultural By-Products”).

Regional Integration
This activity was specifically mentioned as a goal for the Africa Project in the Regional Plan for Africa (PD/A CRSP, 1997). Potential sites were named, with the intent of continuing to explore possibilities and make recommendations leading to the establishment of at least one companion site in Africa.

Schedule
Year 1: Identify and establish a companion site.
Year 2: Initiate the first investigation at the companion site.

Report Submission
Activities undertaken will be reported on annually in PD/A CRSP Annual Reports.
A final report will be submitted March 2001.

References
PD/A CRSP, 1997. Working paper on regional plans. July, 1997. Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture Collaborative Research Support Program. Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, 26 pp.

Objectives

1) To promote the dissemination of information emanating from PD/A CRSP research results.
2) To learn about fish culture practices and research priorities and activities in Kenya and neighboring countries in Africa.
3) To encourage the establishment of regional linkages between research and extension programs in Africa.

Significance
A serious constraint to increasing aquaculture production through research in Africa is linking research with extension services. Research conducted at the former PD/A CRSP research site in Rwanda has still not made its way out to the African researchers and extensionists because of low participation in regional meetings. Research conducted at the new CRSP site at Sagana Fish Farm will face the same fate if intra-regional participation is not actively promoted. The Fisheries Society of Africa has begun holding conferences, providing an excellent opportunity to communicate research results from current and previous CRSP activities, to meet and encourage other African researchers, and to promote communications between research and extension organizations. Communication and collaboration between countries in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region includes an annual meeting of SADCs Inland Fisheries Technical Cooperation Unit based in Lilongwe, Malawi. Attendance at these annual meetings and frequent mailings of publications to the extension services are cost-effective means of communicating research findings to farmers. Pre-meeting contacts and planning can be used to foster greater participation at such meetings.

Anticipated Benefits
Contact with researchers and extension personnel in Kenya and in other countries in the region will result in a better understanding of research needs and enhanced research-extension linkages. Extension services in Kenya and other African countries will benefit by being more closely linked with research institutions and African researchers will have an enhanced understanding of research needs. Ultimately, fish producers throughout the region will benefit, because these linkages will enable extension services not only to more easily convey farmers’ needs to researchers, but also to extend new research results back to the farmers.

Activity Plan
1) Project personnel will attend and make presentations at meetings of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Inland Fisheries Sector Technical Coordination Unit and at annual meetings of the Fisheries Society of Africa (FISA). Up to five people may attend such meetings, including the host country PI, the host country RA, the on-site CRSP researcher, and two additional attendees from the region, including students when appropriate. The selection of attendees will be made by joint decision of the PIs AND RAs of the project. Attendees will be actively involved project people who can share the results of CRSP experiments, studies, or activities by making presentations; they will also use these meetings to meet with regional colleagues to examine the feasibility of producing extension publications useful to the region.

2) Attendees will learn about fish culture activities and research and extension priorities in the region by attending presentations made by others and by participating in special sessions arranged for these purposes at the conferences (see also item 4, below).

3) The project may also provide partial financial support for participation in regional meetings by key colleagues who have something to present or can make a substantial contribution at special planning and coordinating sessions (see also item 4 below) but who might otherwise be unable to attend.

4) Project personnel will become actively involved in the organization of regional meetings, in pre-meeting coordination, and in efforts to develop and implement plans to increase participation in these meetings. They will endeavor to work with the organizers of regional meetings to ensure that opportunities are provided (e.g., through inclusion of special sessions or workshops in conference programs) for exchanging information and for holding in-depth discussions on regional research and extension priorities or on creating linkages for collaboration on research and extension efforts.

Regional Integration
This activity directly addresses the second main goal identified in the Regional Plan for Africa (PD/A CRSP, 1997), which is “to encourage and support cooperation, communication, and technology transfer among research and extension institutions in the region.”

Schedule
FISA and SADC meetings will be attended each year that they occur (meeting dates to be announced).

Report Submission
A report of meetings attended or other outreach efforts undertaken under this activity will be submitted annually during the Work Plan period.

First annual report: June 1999
Second annual report: June 2000
Final report: March 2001

References
PD/A CRSP, 1997. Working paper on regional plans. July, 1997. Pond Dynamics/Aquaculture Collaborative Research Support Program. Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, 26 pp.