By Wanangwa Tembo

Kasungu, May 26, Mana: District Fisheries Officer for Kasungu, Ignatious Lipato, has urged communities in the district to diversify their farming activities by adopting green businesses such as fish farming.

Lipato made the call on Saturday, when Jesuit Centre for Ecology and Development (JCED), handed over fingerings to Chisamba Village, in Sub-Traditional Authority Ndume, to mark the launch of a community owned fish pond.

“As a department responsible for aquaculture, we are seriously encouraging fish farming in rural communities, especially now that we are faced with the challenge of climate change.

“Fish farming is one of the best green businesses, communities can adopt for their nutrition and income security and, today, I’m happy to witness one of the milestones in the promotion of aquaculture in the district,” Lipato said.

He said Kasungu District has over 1,000 farmers spread across all Extension Planning Areas (EPA’s), producing around 15.5 metric tons of fish annually.

The Fisheries officer described the launching of the pond at Chisamba as a huge development that would boost production and he challenged the surrounding communities to construct more ponds.

Director for JCED, Reuben Nazombe, lauded the commitment shown by the community by manually constructing the pond, which is 375 square meters in size.

“Our interest is to work with rural communities so that they withstand the impact of climate change which is mostly affecting their livelihood.

“Although climate change affects everyone, our understanding is that it affects vulnerable communities more than others. That’s why we are working with them to build and strengthen their resilience,” Nazombe said.

He added that with the unreliability of rains, communities have to diversify the sources of their livelihood by venturing into green businesses that protect the environment, and enhances the biodiversity of the place and, at the same time, contributing to their livelihood.

“Our motivation is to see a resilient household and a resilient community,” he said.

Chairperson for Chisamba Village Pond, Kamwenye Vito, expressed gratitude to JCED for supporting the 54-member group with training and resources to start the fish farming project.

“Our dream is to make it big, and we will add more ponds both as a group and at individual level to increase production,” he said.

The faith-based organization has also supported the venture with fingerlings and feed.