Youths in Likoma District have expressed excitement with the introduction of fish cages in Lake Malawi, saying the initiative will boost their livelihoods.
In an interview on Wednesday, Likoma Agri-enterprise Youth Group secretary Iyan Mtawali said fish cage farming is expected to create employment opportunities for many youths in the district.
He said the group is implementing the fish farming project with financial support of K25 million from Likoma Conservation Foundation, a local non-governmental organisation under the Green Safaris Conservation Foundation based in the Netherlands.
“The project is progressing well compared to our previous efforts, during which many fish died. This time, we stocked about 28 000 fish and only a few have died. This is a good sign because most of the fish are healthy and growing well, showing that they are receiving the right amount of feed,” said Mtawali.
He said the project will benefit youths from Chinyanya and Madimba by creating employment opportunities.
Likoma Conservation Foundation programme manager Nyuma Manda said they prioritised fish farming as part of environmental conservation efforts.
“The project will create jobs for youths and fishers as well as business opportunities in the supply of fish feed, fingerlings and maintenance services,” she said.
Manda said the pilot project is expected to produce about 10 metric tonnes of fish, each weighing between 350 and 500 grammes from 33 000 fingerlings
