OPIS Foundation

Using a portion of Sierra Leone's unused land to create jobs and provide food products for domestic and export use, the Opis Foundation proposes to vastly expand aquaculture in Sierra Leone. In a project similar to the jatropha farms, the Foundation proposes to establish family farms and the necessary infrastructure to support aquaculture on a large scale. Currently, White Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis Niloticus) is being raised in fish farms. The Foundation will encourage the cultivation of African Sharptooth Catfish (Clarias Gariepinus), which is native to the country, as well as other species that have a proven track recorded in being raised in a fish farm environment.

During the period while construction of the farms and infrastructure is being accomplished, the foundation will establish a hatchery and nursery to house the broodstock, to raise Catfish from the spawning and fertilization through the fry stage to the fingerling stage.  Once the individual farms are operating, the hatchery and nursery will be used maintain an ongoing breeding program. The foundation will secure the participation of at least 4,000 aquaculture partners who will be able to manage about 24 acres (10 hectares) of production ponds.  The farmers will raise the catfish through the outgrow phase as well as grow the maize or millet and peanuts to provide a source for catfish feed.

The foundation proposes to build and operate a fish processing plant and warehousing.  The plant will process fish for both domestic use and for export using a fast freeze fish process. The plant will produce catfish feed, producing a least cost high protein feed, utilizing secure supply streams of maize, millet and peanuts, plus catfish offal to make for a complete nutrition source.

Aquaculture is the farming of freshwater and saltwater organisms including mollusks, crustaceans and aquatic plants. Unlike fishing, aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, implies the cultivation of aquatic populations under controlled conditions. The practice dates back to 2500 B.C. in China where it spread to South East Asia. It has also been used by Polynesian islanders over the centuries and in Europe since the middle ages. Over the millennia it has developed into a way of producing food with limited space and resources-a particularly efficient one when integrated into agriculture.

Aquaculture has been introduced to Sub Saharan Africa only since the 1950s, and only amounts to 570,000 metric tons of production annually - but it is now growing. Projects have also been established in Zambia, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Madagascar, and Kenya with varying degrees of success. While development has been hampered by the cost of feed (or even the lack of access to feed), shortage of fingerlings, little on site research and extension, and weak market development, production in these countries has steadily increased.

Dr. Moses Moisa-Kapu, Minister of Maritime Resources and his advisors during our last meeting in Sierra Leone.

While Africa is seen as many as the next great investment opportunity as economies of Latin America and South and East Asia mature, The Opis Foundation and its affiliates  is engaged in a set of mutually supporting projects in the nation of Sierra Leone. With the end of the civil war at the turn of the century, the economy of Sierra Leone has experienced steady, sustainable growth despite little foreign investment and little to no infrastructure outside the capitol of Freetown.

As far as agriculture is concerned, Sierra Leone imports half of its food (much of it from NGO and donor agencies) while on the other hand vast tracts of land are available for cultivation. These circumstances are legacies from the long years of civil war. Established cash crops are coffee, cocoa, and cassava. Cultivation of millet is widespread. The country also has a history of rice cultivation and has its own Rice Research Institute. Nevertheless, most farming is of a subsistence nature on farms of 2 or 3 hectares (2.94 to 7.41 acres).

The shoreline of Sierra Leone is approximately 560 km long and includes the estuaries of three large river networks (Scarcies, Sierra Leone and Sherbro) and four coastal islands. The continental shelf has an estimated area of 25,000 km².

The management, development and conservation of the fisheries resources of Sierra Leone - marine, inland and aquaculture - is currently the responsibility of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR). The fishing industry consists of two sectors, the industrial and the artisanal, the latter comprising marine artisanal, inland artisanal and aquaculture. Fish is an important part of the diet, supplying about 80 percent of the total consumption of animal protein.

Tilapia culture and extension have been practiced for nearly 30 years, principally in the towns of Makali in the north and Bo in the south. The techniques for simple culture are now firmly established. In the 1990s there were a total of 453 fishponds. Policy measures for the development of inland fisheries and aquaculture aim at achieving self sufficiency in fish production for the rural populations bordering water bodies and those around the inland valleys and flood plains as well as other inland communities. This would provide essential fish protein to complement that from marine fisheries.

Aquaculture is concentrated in the provinces in the south (mainly in Bo and to a lesser extent in Moyamba and Pujehun), the north (mainly in Tonkolili and a little in Bombali) and the east (in Kailahun, Kenema and Kono) of the country. The culture of fish in earthen ponds is the most common system of aquaculture. The principal cultured species is the Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), but two varieties of the African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) and (Heterobranchus longifilis) are cultured as well.

A recent survey of the status of aquaculture shows that there are about 1,050 fishponds in the country, with over 60 percent in the Tonkolili District alone. About 22 percent of the ponds belong to village communities or fishing associations; approximately 80 percent of the ponds are private ponds, with about 87 percent owned by males. Earthen ponds are the most commonly found system and pond sizes vary from 31 to 6,160 m².  Pond productivity is enhanced through the use of NPK fertilizer combinations as well as chicken manure. The most commonly used feed type is rice bran and termites.  Men play an active role in the construction and management of fishponds while the role of women becomes apparent at harvest time. Women and children carry out the day-to-day maintenance.

There are trained aquaculturists at the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, but their role is largely restricted to extension, which includes training and demonstration in the construction of ponds and culture and management techniques of earthen fish ponds.

There are fingerling production centers in Makali and Bo which supply fingerlings to the fish farmers. In order to increase government inputs to these stations, fish farmers are required to pay some fees in return for the fingerlings from these stations. The most commonly used feeds are local feeds such as rice bran and termites. NPK fertilizer and chicken manure is frequently used to increase the productivity of ponds.

Taken together, Sierra Leone's ready availability of arable land, its population that is available to supply labor, and a "fish friendly" eco-system make the country is especially well suited to the establishment of an aquaculture industry.

The graph below shows the growth of aquaculture in the country.

The rationale behind aquaculture development is to make available good quality fresh fish that will provide affordable fish protein to the poor and fast growing rural population. This will also reduce the pressure on capture marine environments. Fish farming accounts for only a small percentage of fish production, about 40 metric tons per annum. The fish is consumed by the rural population and is particularly important for non-coastal areas. The FAO annual statistical bulletin of 2001 estimates total production at 30 metric tons constituted entirely of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) with a total value of US$45,000, based on a cost of US$ 1.5/kg. Unlike tilapia, the catfish species have not been significantly cultured although they present an enormous potential for increasing aquaculture production.

Additionally, aquaculture will help reduce the pressure on capture marine environments. Also, it is common knowledge that aquaculture could provide much-needed employment, especially for poor rural communities. It is against this background that the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources has placed aquaculture as a foremost priority.

Clarias Gariepinus ("African Sharptooth Catfish")

Clarias gariepinus (AKA "African Sharptooth Catfish" "Liberian Catfish") is a species of catfish of the family Clariidae, the air-breathing catfishes. It is generally considered to be one of the most important tropical catfish species for aquaculture, has an almost Pan-African distribution, ranging from the Nile to West Africa and from Algeria to Southern Africa. They also occur in Asia Minor (Israel, Syria and South of Turkey).  By contrast, Clarias anguillaris has a more restricted distribution and is found in Mauritania, in most West African basins and in the Nile. More recently it has been raised in indoor aquaculture settings in Europe and introduced to Asia in outdoor aquaculture projects as well. In general C. gariepinus lives in most river basins with C. anguillaris. It lives in freshwater lakes, rivers, swamps, as well as human-made places, such as oxidation ponds or even urban sewer systems! The animal is highly fecund. Spawning usually takes place after rain with rising water levels.

Hatching, although temperature dependent, occurs approximately 18 - 24 hours after fertilization at 24 - 28°C. The offspring, by exploiting newly inundated environments which are usually rich in food, operate temporarily in what McArthur and Wilson term an ecological vacuum, almost free from inter- and intraspecific interactions. However, competition for food and cover which results in sibling cannibalism has recently been shown to be density dependent under culture conditions. Growth under natural conditions and particularly under controlled aquaculture conditions is fast. The species is an opportunistic omnivore capable of switching feeding modes, depending on prey availability. It is hardy and does not easily succumb to disease. This is principally a consequence of its wide environmental tolerances. This ubiquitous fish is the most important individual species in traditional African freshwater fisheries being estimated to comprise some 20% of the total catch in Africa.

Aquaculture scientists and fish farmers throughout Africa and in Europe and Asia have benefited immensely from the wealth of biological and ecological research which has been undertaken on this fascinating species. This is clearly illustrated by the fact that it took just over a decade to develop the culture technology from concept to practice. This highlights the importance of fundamental science in aquaculture.

Perhaps the most exciting feature of the catfish in terms of aquaculture is its potential for highly intensive culture without prerequisite pond aeration or high water exchange rates facilitated by its air-breathing ability and tolerance of poor water quality. According to the FAO under adequate management conditions, a net production of 16-24 metric tons per hectare per year is not unreasonable, (Using the low end figure, we could more than double  the 2001 aquaculture production of Sierra Leone with 2 additional hectares of ponds!) Such figures stand in marked contrast to intensive channel catfish culture, common in the US, where maximum yields in stagnant ponds are in the order of only seven tons per hectare per year, if mechanical aeration is employed.

In summary, we can list the African Sharptooth Catfish's advantages thusly:

• Multiplies abundantly (highly fecund)
• Easily induced to spawn by artificial means
• Rapid gestation and growth
• Tolerant of Poor Water Quality (stagnant ponds etc.)
• Tolerant of High Population Densities
• Tolerant of Low Dissolved Oxygen (no need for aerators)
• Tolerant of Handling Stress (from transfer from pond to pond or to processing plant) 

Aquaculture provides Sierra Leone a golden opportunity to enhance food security by supply the population with a high quality source of protein and commodities for export. The Opis Foundation's initiative is designed to provide opportunity for home and farm ownership to ten's of thousands of the population. Tens of thousand more will be created up and down the supply chain (fish processing, feed production, hired help at participating farms). Additionally the initiative is designed to be a closed loop with minimal waste and minimal environmental impact: no exotic species need be introduced, capital costs are low, fish offal will be used in the fish feed. 

As the industry becomes well established, we expect entrepreneurial minded farmers to expand their capacity and diversify their stock.  Eventually they may well start their own small scale processing operations and even their own hatcheries. With this initiative we build on the old adage "give a man a fish you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish you feed him for life." In this case we go one better "give a population the means to farm fish you create an industry"!

Thus we see the Opis foundation's approach at work encouraging the growth ownership and entrepreneurship, meeting immediate needs, and doing so in an environmentally friendly manner.