By Stella Mwalwanda

Mzuzu, December 20, Mana: With scarcity and high cost of fish feed, fish farmers around Mzuzu used to face huddles in prospering their business for the past years.

However, this is now history as a fish feed mill has recently been established and officially inaugurated at Luwinga Industrial Area in Mzuzu by President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera.

In an interview on Friday, one of the fish farmers, Telita Chitsulo who owns fish ponds at Songwe and Mpamba in Nkhata Bay said that the establishment of the mill will go a long way in promoting fish farming for economic empowerment.

“We are also excited with the infrastructure as this will ease access to fish feed which we used to source from either Zambia or Lilongwe hence transport costs eating our expected profits,” said Chitsulo.

She added that fish farmers have been accorded an opportunity to use the machinery to produce their own fish feed using locally available raw materials, thereby leading to increased profits.

Public Relations Officer for Mzuzu Prison which has some fish ponds, Macbeth Wasambo said that the establishment of the mill will propel fish farming initiatives in the north and the country as a whole

He then concurred with Chitsulo that fish feed transportation costs from far areas away from Mzuzu will drastically be minimized, hence attracting more investors in fish farming entrepreneurship.

Fisheries Research Officer who is based at Mzuzu Aquaculture Centre, Silvester Jambo said that the establishment of the mill is the first of its kind as a public investment in Malawi.

"The mill is equipped with a specialized machine for producing floating feed suitable for fish at all stages of growth, particularly Tilapia species (Chambo),” said Jambo.

Jambo added that the feed will be of high quality as it will take into consideration crude protein composition for fish at various levels of growth and will be affordable.

He however said that at the moment the feed is not yet on   commercial market as they are still in the early stages of economic planning and setting prices so that they meet the needs of all farmers. 

Establishment of the mill which produces 5 tonnes of feed per hour, translating into 9,600 tonnes per year, has been financed by the African Development Bank under the Sustainable Fisheries Aquaculture Development Watershed Management.