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Haiti, a small island developing state in the Caribbean, is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, climate-related hazards and food insecurity. The northeast region has great economic and agricultural potential, but a high proportion of food insecure people and is particularly vulnerable to climate-related hazards such as drought. FAO and the European Union jointly implemented a Millennium Development Goal programme in 2013, emphasizing improved food security, higher production and agricultural development as national priorities. As part of the strategy, FAO and the EU collaborated to establish Farmer Field Schools in the Northeast Province, including an aquaculture component for the production of red tilapia (a hybrid of Mozambique and Nile tilapia) in Lake Obof. The project also helped target communities to establish their own ponds to raise fingerlings (young or small fish).
Promoting aquaculture to improve food security and employment opportunities
Food insecurity and malnutrition are widespread in northeastern Haiti, and there is an urgent need to create jobs, especially for people living in rural areas. Establishing a commercial-scale tilapia farming industry could provide employment opportunities throughout the value chain, especially in marketing, thus boosting economic development.
The EU-FAO project is training four communities – Mapou, Philibert, Meillac and Robino – to farm red tilapia in cages in two local water bodies, Lake Robino and Lake Obouf. However, a prolonged drought has caused Lake Robino to shrink, and most activity is concentrated in Lake Obouf.
After training by aquaculture experts, the community has set up 10 4-cubic-meter floating cages and stocked them with about 12,000 red tilapia fingerlings. In the coming months, the plan is to expand the number of floating cages to 22, with an estimated annual production of 6 tons.
“The project uses imported high-protein commercial fish feed (30-40%) and we are seeing great results with the community-reared fry,” said FAO Aquaculture Officer Valerio Crespi. In just two months, the fry grew from 1 gram to 150 grams in weight.
The communities also received extensive training in aquaculture through a “learning by doing” approach and with the assistance of national consultants hired by the project.
Red tilapia production is progressing better than expected and the Aquaculture Farmer Field Schools are currently working on marketing and selling their product directly in the local community, developing a marketing plan for “farm direct sales” as well as sales to local restaurants and hotels.
The project aims to produce local, cheap fish feed using agricultural by-products generated from local agricultural activities.
Farmer Field School Program
The aquaculture component is part of a €4 million Farmer Field Schools programme that aims to strengthen the processing and marketing production capacity of family farm systems to better take advantage of market opportunities and other development prospects.
More than 70 Farmer Field Schools have been established in the Northeast, each involving producers from different regions and sectors, including groundnut, cassava, horticulture, dairy and aquaculture.
Producers can benefit from the program’s support in areas of their own choice, including sustainable production, processing according to quality standards, and marketing related to their processed products.
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