Fish farm turns into garden

THE Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources plans to hand over the Shipapo Wambambangandu fish farm in the Kavango Region to the Shambyu Traditional Authority, who will transform it into a community gardening project.

In March this year, the Fisheries Ministry suspended fish farming at the farm, located in the Kaisosi area on the outskirts of Rundu, after it was flooded and decided to relocate the fish farm to higher ground because of its vulnerability to floods.
Several fish farms set up by Government in the Kavango and Caprivi regions have been flooded repeatedly over the past few years during the rainy season.
Chief Fisheries Research Technician Christopher Munwela informed Nampa on Friday that although the floodwater has now subsided, the fish farm remains closed as the Ministry is in the process of handing it over to the Shambyu Traditional Authority so it can start with the seasonal gardening project there.
The annual flooding experienced at the fish farm had become too costly for aquaculture, according to Munwela, hence the decision to relocate the fish to a safer area. The 23 co-operative workers who were stationed at the farm and who had to be sent home are still without jobs.
Munwela expressed disappointment that during the period that the farm was flooded, some members of the community started stealing doors, toilet pots and the farm’s fence.
Meanwhile Fisheries Minister Dr Abraham Iyambo has already presented a report to Cabinet for the relocation of the fish farm to an area which is safer from flooding.
Dr Iyambo said since 2003 when the fish farm was established, it has always been flooded, resulting in a loss of revenue to the workers who run the farm. – Nampa