A three-day training workshop for fish and Poultry farmers has ended at the University of Buea. Sponsored by the World Bank through the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development, the workshop was aimed at eradicating poverty and increasing production of fish, pork and poultry in the Southwest and Northwest regions.

The workshop that ran from 16 to 18 March 2016, started with a visit to the Fish farms of students of the faculty of agriculture at UB. The farmers from the Southwest came mainly from Fako and Meme Divisions. The Vice Chancellor of the University of Buea, Dr. NalovaLyonga explained that another workshop would be organized for residents of other Divisions of the SW.

The training was mainly in the area of integrating poultry farming with other components of fish farming and also in fish and pig production.

The National coordinator of the programme in Cameroon, Dr. Pius Mbah explained that the target is to bring about an increase in integrated fish farming techniques alongside poultry production as well as piggery with the aim to reduce poverty through self and gainful employment.

He noted that the aspect of education has been a main hindrance because the process of fish production is sophisticated and entails a lot of work and research, reason why people engage in the process but still realize very little. He noted that fish have a lot of predators and because some fish eat their kind makes it difficult for the farmers to have better output.

On how to best preserve the fish, it emerged that environment-friendly smoking kilns have been donated by CORAF/WECARD and will be made available to the different centres in the community.

Dr. Pius pointed out that the kilns could be used at home and even in bedrooms without the adverse effects on the body and environment, unlike is the case for the commonly used locally made kilns. When the fish has been smoked with the modern kilns, it can last for as long as four months before the need to re-preserve them arises.

The World Bank funded project, will take place in Cameroon, Sierra Leone and Nigeria with the main centres being the University of Buea for Cameroon, University of Ibadan for Nigeria and Njala University of Sierra Leone.

The scheme is aimed at promoting self-employment and entrepreneurship, as well as positively impacting food security by increasing and improving the nutritional level of foods.