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Mashonaland Central is the leading province on dam stocking with eight dams so far, recent updates on the programme have revealed.
Other stocked dams are in Mashonaland West and East, Midlands and Masvingo Provinces.
The advent of the 2022/23 rainy season has seen a spike in the number of dams being stocked with fish under the Presidential Fisheries Programme, which was adopted as one of the strategies to boost income and nutrition security in line with the country’s Vision 2030.
Government introduced a raft of strategies to ensure that no person or place is left behind in terms of food security and economic development, as the nation marches towards attaining an upper-middle income economy.
At least 15 dams have been stocked since the exercise started in October this year with the ultimate target being to stock 300 dams before the year ends.
Fish farming has emerged as one of the fastest-growing food-producing sectors whose rollout can be done efficiently and cost-effectively. The Presidential Fisheries Programme is targeting 1 200 dams out of more than 10 000 dams across the country with 50 000 fingerlings set to be released into each dam by 2025.
In an interview with The Herald yesterday, acting deputy director Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Mr Milton Makumbe said:
“The rainy season breathes life into the programme and coincides with fish breeding and the availability of fingerlings for dam stocking. As the rain season progresses, we are set to stock more dams with fingerlings to achieve our target of stocking 300 dams per year,” he said.
Mr Makumbe said more dams were set to support people’s livelihoods adding that stocking of dams would increase as the rain season progressed. He added: “We are looking at a situation where Zimbabwe is going to be a major exporter of tilapia in the region.”
Meanwhile, the drilling of 35 000 boreholes by the Government countrywide started early this year and is set to improve communities’ access to water, as they move to transform their livelihoods through horticulture and aquaculture.
Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development chief director responsible for Agriculture Advisory Services Professor Obert Jiri said extension officers would be educating farmers on how to manage fingerlings to make sure the programme succeeded.
“Training is the hallmark of Agritex. Farmers will be fully trained on how to handle this fisheries programme to ensure its viability,” he said. The World Food Programme estimates that 1, 5 million Zimbabweans – translating to about 18 percent of the population are food-insecure. Nutritional value obtained from fish can help alleviate this situation. Aquaculture can be a turning point in Zimbabwe’s economic growth through creation of employment for youths.
The Government’s move is in line with Vision 2030 of working towards attaining an upper-middle income economy following the successful completion of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme. In the event of crop failure, modest production of aquatic resources by vulnerable communities may have disproportionate social benefits to livelihoods. Herald
