Page 43 - World Aquaculture Magazine - March 2011

World Aquaculture 41
resources, between 1992 and 1993, a collaborative trial be-
tween the University of Stellenbosch and the Western Cape
Department of Agriculture was conducted to investigate the
feasibility of rainbow trout in net cages on irrigation dams
(Maleri 2009). The promising growth rates and survival of
fish in this study garnered attention and in 1993 the Rural
Foundation, a non-government aid organization located in
Stellenbosch, started investigating the feasibility of freshwa-
ter aquaculture of rainbow trout as a possible rural enter-
prise. A pilot project between the three partners was then
undertaken to examine not only culture feasibility but also
market opportunities, infrastructure necessities and potential
management structures necessary for trout culture as a rural
enterprise. The results of these initial projects demonstrated
both opportunities and challenges and provided the frame-
work by which the University of Stellenbosch launched the
Trout Small-Scale Aquaculture Farming Program in 2002.
Hands-On Fish Farmers Cooperative Limited
The objective of the Trout Small-Scale Aquaculture
Farming Program is to improve the living standards of rural
communities, provide opportunities to participate in the re-
gional and national economy and contribute to food securi-
ty and sustainable utilization of resources. To commercialize
the process, Hands-On Fish Farmers Co-operative Limited
was established in 2004 as an empowerment project. The
overwhelming majority of its members are from previously
disadvantaged backgrounds. The purpose of Hands-On is
not to maximize profits within the co-operative, but to break
even with a minimal safety margin to maximize members’
income. The basic premise is that black and coloured people
from previously disadvantaged communities in South Af-
rica can become trout producers through a well structured
program that provides assistance in site selection, qual-
ity inputs, managerial and administrative support as well
as extension services, technical protocols and guidelines,
and access to markets and financing arrangements. Vari-
ous role-players including the private sector, government
departments and local authorities are participating in the
Program. These include the National Department of Sci-
ence and Technology, Aquaculture Division of Stellenbosch
University, New-Farmers Development Company, ABSA
Bank Limited, Woord en Daad, Swiss Contact South Af-
rica, USAID Farmer to Farmer Support Program, various
training institutions (Aquaculture Institute of South Africa,
Ethical Leadership Institute, World Wildlife Fund, South
Africa National Biodiversity Institute, Cape Nature) and
numerous local authorities (Cape Winelands Municipality).
As a co-op, Hands-On’s income is derived from a margin on
fingerlings and fish feed, a commission on sales of trout and
a margin on production credit, as well as the leases of cages.
Economic benefits to the small farmers include a minimum
wage and sharing in the project profits. A project consists of
two floating cages on a reservoir. Each cage is 10 m long, 10
m wide and the nets hang 5 m deep in the water. A total of
6,000 juvenile trout (average 150-200 g) are stocked in the sys-
tem during May, the start of the rainfall season in the Western
Cape Province. Each cage is stocked with 3,000 fish and feed-
Members of the Hands-On Fish Farmers Co-op harvesting
trout. (Picture by Henk Stander.)
ing takes place three times a day. After six months, during No-
vember, the fish are harvested at approximately 1.2 kilograms,
which relates to a production of between 6 and 8 t per project.
The fish are sold to a private sector processor through a long-
term market-uptake agreement for 200 t trout per annum. The
projected turnover for a two cage project is US$23,616 with an
EBITDA of US$3,825/yr. In terms of cash flow the maximum
requirement per two cage project is approximately US$15,740
depending on the FCR and feed cost which accounts for 40 to
60 percent of the operating costs.
Economic analysis of current small farmer projects pro-
vides firm evidence, such as net present value and internal
rate of return, in support of economic sustainability. Long-
term profitability is, however, expected to come under pres-
sure and emphasis should be placed on ways to reduce input
costs (production systems, input commodities) and improve
productivity (skills development, training). Specifically,
small farmers are currently reliant on extension services that
contribute largely to reduction in risks. If the services can-
not be maintained, inevitably it will lead to increased risk
and reduced sustainability, particularly during the first phase
of recruitment of new small farmers. Additional training
programs to promote small farmer knowledge and inde-
pendence are, thus, crucial to future success of the co-op.
Maturity of the co-op will also likely necessitate establish-
ing new collaborations with other development and train-
ing agencies with additional expertise and experience. As an
example, the Hands-On Co-op became part of the USAID
Farmer to Farmer support program in 2008 and the small
farmers were fortunate to have aquaculture specialists from
the United States visiting South Africa to provide a different
perspective on some of the technical farming challenges.
Conclusions
Although to many, the concept of farming trout in South
Africa will likely conjure images not unlike the 2007 novel
“Salmon fishing in the Yemen” by Paul Torday, trout farming