AQUAFISH CRSP SUCCESS STORY: The Ghana Scenario
Amisah, S.
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Ghana &
Quagrainie, K. K.Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
CRSP – Ghana Achievements
1. Established Platform for exchange of experiences and knowledge among:
Fisheries staff Extension officers Fish farmers Undergraduate and Post-graduate
students in Fisheries and Aquaculture
CRSP – Ghana Achievements cont.
2. Opportunity for fisheries and extension staff to update their knowledge of the situation on the ground, through visits to fish farms during data collection and surveys. No more “secret” techniques.
Hitherto, they had been constrained by transport , technical and logistical support and visits had been suspended by the Sector Ministry.
CRSP – Ghana Achievements cont.
3. Brought farmers and potential fish farmers together to interact/learn what other farmers were doing and shared in their experiences and novel technologies – e.g. Induced spawning.
Record keeping and profit determinations
This represented a formidable setback to planning and enterprise development
This issue has been considerably addressed through the efforts of CRSP through training and provision of brochures on Record Keeping.
Monitoring: an iterative process
CRSP – Ghana Achievements cont.
4. Farmers learned to keep accurate and consistent Farm Records and improved on existing ones.
5. Farmers learned to compute various performance indicators; Revenue, Profits and Costs.
A success story for consistent record keeping can be found at Kumah Farms in Ghana
…attracts vocational students and fish farmers who need data and information
CRSP – Ghana Achievements cont.
6. Linkages established between CRSP, University, Fisheries Directorate (Ministry of Fisheries) and Fish Farmers. MOUs signed.
7. BSc student to train in China with Ministry supportAquaFish CRSP is now a consortium of
experts offering free technical advice to fish farmers and extension officers
CRSP – Ghana Achievements cont.
7. Manuals on Fish Farm Record Keeping, Benefit-Cost Analysis, produced and distributed to, at least, 85 farmers at no cost to farmers.
Aquaculture outreach
Still in progress on a national scale Flyers used in communication and
demonstrations In collaboration with Ministry
Fisheries Directorate and Minister of Fisheries
Graduate Student recruitment:
Arrangements are in place for one Ghanaian student to study for an MSc at VT, USA with some sponsorship from AquaFish CRSP in Fall 2008.
This represents another giant step in capacity building of Host country by AquaFish CRSP and the effective collaboration and cooperation from the host country.
Acknowledgements
CRSP/USAID for support and funding.
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.
Ministry of Fisheries, Ghana.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION