Stavanger, Norway-based feed and fingerling producer Skretting has committed to a community development project in Zambia, in south-central Africa.
Skretting will provide a cooperative group of 45 tilapia farmers in the Mpulungu region in the north of Zambia with fingerlings and feed, with the goal of improving local livelihoods and income.
“For a long time, farmers in Zambia have had the challenge of getting good quality fingerlings and good quality feed for farmers,” Skretting Zambia General Manager Jurre Zaal said. “Skretting is happy to fill that gap and provide farmers with the Skretting feed and services that they need through initiatives like this community development project.”
Almost half of the farmers participating in the project are women, Skretting said in a press release. The project was initiated in 2017 and officially launched in late July 2018.
Attendees at the launch event included representatives from the Zambian Ministry of Fisheries, the Misanfu Research Institute, representatives from WorldFish, and many of the local farmers.
“Quality feed, quality fingerlings and technical service will accelerate fish farming projects in the province and address some of the major challenges for fish farmers,” Ramans Kayumu, a provincial fisheries officer from the Zambian Ministry of Fisheries, said at the launch event.
According to Lwao Mutale, one of the local tilapia farmers, the group will be preparing their ponds throughout August to be ready to stock fingerlings in September.
The project is just one of many of Skretting’s community development projects taking place in local communities throughout the global footprint in which the company operates, Zaal said at the launch.
“Empowering small-scale farmers to run productive and profitable farms is vital if we are to feed the future in a sustainable way, and Skretting is well-placed to assist with the transfer of knowledge and expertise to these groups, Zaal said.
