Fish farming: A Pathway to a Sustainable Future

Mike Roche, of Sally Foundation Australia, earlier in the year took time to visit the ZDDT/Sallym Foundation community gardens throughout Bulawayo.

It was during this visit he expressed his interest in the development of new garden activities.

Taking heed of this call, beneficiaries of Greenfield Garden, in the Township of Emganwini, have taken it upon themselves to venture into fish farming.

Fish farming is a very lucrative project and has immense advantages in terms of agricultural activities.

One of the gardeners, Mr N Ndlovu, remarked:

"We are very much excited to undertake this new fish project with the hope it will succeed. We visited other places in Bulawayo and we realised that fish is good, whether it be for selling or for eating. What we want to see is the garden developing as it is an asset to us for, without it, we won’t earn a good living."

The fish project is expected to boost the gardens fiscal coffers and also offer the much-needed protein that is not always readily available in crop farming.

When the gardens were being established, the ZDDT programme was designed as a self-help concept whereby the beneficiaries would become self-sufficient over time with minimal oversight.

It is encouraging to see recipients of the garden taking matters into their own hands and coming up with new ideas that lead to the improvement of livelihoods of garden member households and an increasing impact within the community itself.