Fish for you

Problem to be solved

Lack of jobs, hunger, poor health and  a low self esteem of the people. 

Solution

Fish and fish products are the basis of quality animal protein for people and for livestock and poultry feeds. It is planned that with enough fish in the fishing grounds, there will be enough animal protein for people and by-products for the manufacture of quality animal feeds to enhance sustainable jobs in animal production value chains. Animal rearing will  eliminate joblessness, poverty, hunger and  promote health and well being of the people.

This can be replicated globally in part or in whole by restocking water bodies and wetlands to increase fish value chain products to be used to boost job creation, chase hunger and have healthy  people with a sense of well being.

An integration of fish and animal husbandry will create unique opportunities in sustainable livelihoods and food security globally.

Joblessness, Poverty, Hunger, poor nutrition and health are the main target of Fish For you through improving life under water and creating friendly ecosystem sustenance on land.

Uganda's declining nutrition and increasing joblessness have led to more people participating in practicing illegal fishing methods resulting in depopulating lakes, rivers and swamps. This is worsened by by a rapidly growing population,  Uganda's population is over 44 million and is growing at 3.1 % per year according to the government owned Uganda Bureau of statistics (UBOSS) putting pressure on food demand.

Joblessness is above 50%. The population living on less than US $ 5.00 a day is at 86.6 % with those living on less than US $ 1.9 being at 25 % resulting in the attendant poverty, low and poor nutrition for the people (UBOSS).  

Fish For You seeks to create decent jobs with economic development using the fish value chain to feed people, create quality feeds encourage pigs, poultry and rabbit husbandry that will create sustainable livelihoods in their value chains.

The expanded value chains will absorb manpower who will create other socioeconomic benefits putting less pressure on ecosystems for livelihoods and food security.

Solution

Working with stakeholders (governments, academia, industry, banks and community service organizations, Fish for You seeks to restock fishing grounds with traditional  people  access fish protein. By products of fish processing and silver fish will be used to manufacture quality feeds to spur and sustain profitable pig, poultry and rabbit farming. The new value chains will create job opportunities to eliminate poverty,banish hunger and create a sense of health and well being of he people.

What it does

It restocks depopulated fishing grounds with fish and the value chain yields protein for people , animal feeds and helps create jobs.

Collaborations, networks and partnerships are emerging in project sites  to facilitate project growth , job creation and sustainable livelihoods.

Processes

It  engages grassroots identify priority beneficiaries for other projects, avails inputs on a revolving basis thus enabling value chain actors become more resilient economically.

Capacity building and skills transfer take place to promote activity success

We encourage clients form investment clubs to cultivate a savings culture and enhance access to financial resources.

Technology

Hatcheries for fish and poultry, feed mills , transportation systems on land and water, Computer hardware and soft ware,and processing hardware and software.

Who?

Individuals and households who live off less than US $ 1.90 are priority followed by those living on US $ 5.00 a day as the second priority for both jobs and nutrition targeting. Children and lactating mothers will be priority for nutrition projects.

Youths and young adults are targeted for the job creation as a second priority given the national unemployment records standing at over 50%. They are energetic and can effectively implement value chain activities of the various projects.

Under Service

The target groups are poor and malnourished because of lack of livelihoods. With an over 50 % unemployment rates and disguised unemployment, many youths and young adults remain unemployed despite the nation having many graduates.

Due to lack of livelihoods, they live below the poverty line and as families grow, they live in the lowest quartile of the poverty ranking.

There have been negligible growth in the production sector which has been dealt a blow with the CORONA 19 virus that has worsened the unemployment of especially those who were self employed as they have either eaten up the working capital or can not access their service jobs as gardeners, domestic workers due to the pandemic related lock down.

Understanding needs

Approximately 44,000 km, or about 18 percent, of Uganda’s total surface area of 241,000 km is covered by water (World Bank, 2006). Uganda is a landlocked country with many inland fishery resources; most capture fisheries are based in five major lakes, namely Victoria, Kyoga, Albert, Edward, and George. The first three lakes together contribute about 95 percent of the total annual catch, and Lake Victoria alone contributes about half the total annual catch.

The major species caught in these lakes are Nile perch, tilapia, and Silverfish; the former two account for the majority of fish exports to extra-regional markets, and the latter is generally heavily traded in the immediate Great Lakes region, yet this trade is mostly unrecorded.

Uganda has a long tradition of artisanal fisheries – an estimated 80 percent of fishers may be categorized as artisanal. Its fishery industry, along with the rest of the economy, began to grow in the late 1980s, following a period of civil war (United Nations Environment Program, 2006). Officially recorded fish exports grew from around $1 million in 1990 to over $45 million six years later (Ponte, 2007), peaking at around $148 million in 2005, and declining since then, with the annual value of exports in 2013 amounting to $126 million (FAO, 2017a; The Fish Site, 2008). As shown in figures 15 and 16, there was a sharp increase in exports through the late 1990s into the mid-2000s and a subsequent decline resulting from falling production. Total annual production ranged between 200,000 and 250,000 tons through the 1990s into the mid-2000s, yet over the last decade, persistent overfishing, captures of immature fish, and pollution in Lake Victoria has led to increasing concerns about declining fish stocks in capture fisheries, and the dramatic fall in exports has compounded these concerns (FAO, 2017a; Uganda Department of Fisheries Resources, 2011). The total catch from Lake Victoria fell from 238,533 tons in 2005 to 183,824 tons in 2011 (Uganda National Fisheries Resources Research Institute, 2012). Government policies to control unsustainable fishing practices – the promulgation of new regulatory laws, stricter licensing and equipment requirements, and reorganization of community-level monitoring bodies – appear to have stabilized production in 2012 and 2013 (The Fish Site, 2013). Total annual production in 2013 was 517,312 tons (FAO, 2017a).

Assessments

Current needs assessments are in process and working with already existing data we are designing a project implementation strategy. These are carried out by subject matter specialists supported by the government of Uganda ministry responsible for the fisheries department.

Participation

Focus group discussions, key informant interviews and participatory assessments, rapid rural appraisal, wealth ranking are  key in understanding and formulation of strategy for program implementation.

Further, the academia and the private sector are developing production linkages between the various value chains to maximize job creation, wealth generation and the inter phases between these and relations to other United Nations Sustainable development goals.

Problem-solving 

Fish restocking is the entry point to help boost animal production via the pigs, poultry and rabbit value chains.

By restocking, the project will raise the profitability in the fish value chain. But there will also be extra fish and by products to avail ingredients foe animal feed production targeting pigs, poultry and rabbits.In  Uganda the major limiting factor in livestock and poultry farming has been the limited availability of quality feeds. Production of quality feeds will therefore spur new entrants into the related value chains, thus generating decent jobs with economic growth, eliminating poverty and hunger while creating a healthy people and well being.

Collaborations,networks and partnerships with both the public and the private sectors industry, community service organizations (CSOs), academia and financial institutions will help to minimize huddles to project implementation, limit repetition and quicken achievement of targets.

The use of the fish value chain as the entry point helps avail resources to invest in other value chains that help create jobs, eliminate hunger and promote the health and well being of the people.

When households are living in absolute poverty, they will survive by scavenging the natural resources like tree cutting, hunting and fishing all using unsustainable means in a bid to survive.

Fish and related by-products will be used in quality animal feed production which with easy access and affordable cost will encourage the unemployed enter farming and help let natural resources thrive and bloom.

Fish For You has developed their concepts which they have tested. We have also understudied the inter relationships between the selected value chains.

Now the project is at a stage of testing the concept theories and creating partnerships with fishing communities, talking to local government and community service organizations but we have been interrupted several times due to the corona pandemic lock downs and the stringent need to observe the standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

In order to begin the piloting we need government permission which is currently restricted due to the corona virus control requirements.

The project is still in its development stage but nearing piloting.

New approach

This is an integrated approach that seeks to use the restocking and boosting of the fish value chain to generate nutritious protein for households, create jobs and avail inputs for jump starting and boosting other job and income generating value activities.

It is not targeting to yield benefits to ecosystems by chance but is designed with the end in mind.

Catalytic Nature

.The fish value chain will create jobs firstly by those active in the chain. Fishing folk, processors, transporters, sellers of products and or products from processing to get other not directly called fish goods such as animal feeds feed manufacture.

Due to deliberately created demand for fingerlings, hatchery capacity will expand creating jobs.Transportation to sites,staffs of project recruitment, attraction of new entrants in fishing and its value chain due to emerging businesses opportunities will create more jobs.

With increase in the number of silver fish, the main fish type in feed manufacture and the affordable costs, better quality feeds will be made. Since poor quality feed has been a limiting factor to poultry, pig and rabbit farming, there will be more farmers profitably involved in their value chains hence improving peoples livelihoods and food security.

With better paying livelihoods, the ecosystem will be given a chance to rejuvenate both for life under water and the above ground ecosystems.

The emerging order of job availability, poverty eradication and hunger elimination will spur other job creation investments in the ecosystems like tree planting due to extra income.

Currently, serving less than 10 people who are project staffs.

In one year we shall serve 500,000people including fish value chain actors, their households and consumers.

In five years we shall serve 5,000,000 covering Ugandans, Kenyans, and Tanzanians through lake Victoria and the South Sudanese and Sudanese through river Nile fish migration down the stream.

The Democratic Republic of Zaire is a major importer of food from Uganda and at least 100,000 people will be affected through transport, marketing and consumption of the fish.

The people mentioned above will include:-

1. Fingerling and poultry hatcheries
2. Fisher men and women
3. Fish curing and value addition (using biomass, solar driers and factory processing)
4. Distributors
5. Marketeers
6. Consumers
7. Maize and other feed ingredient producers
8. Feed processors and distributors
9. Consumers (infants, children, adolescents, youths women and men, disabled and the elderly)

1. No poverty

Number of people earning incomes above US $ 5.00 per day in the sector.
2. Zero hunger
Number of families that have transitioned from one meal a day to three square meals a day

3. Health and well being
Number of people (especially children, pregnant and lactating mothers and the elderly) who are graduating from health and nutrition challenges to health and well being with under 0.01 of health and nutrition patients being seen annually in the project area as detected by the Middle upper arm circumference (MUAC)

Quality education
a. Children attending and staying in school as compared to before the project.

b. The quality of school infrastructure better and offering quality classroom as compared to before the project

Life underwater
Fish stocks and other life systems more diversified than before the project

Bio diversity underwater due to increasing types of animal varieties in the water bodies and others associated with wetlands and water bodies.

Life on land
There is little or no assault on ecosystems on land due to desperation to earn a livelihood from scavenging  for livelihoods means.

Collaborations and networking
a.Number of collaborators at start of project and three years after project start.

b. Number of donors to the project over the project life span

Full time staff   7 people (Executive Director and agriculturist, Operations and Administration Manager, Finance manager, Community Social worker, Legal counselcommunications Manager and I.C.T manager)

Part time staff Two staffs only

Contractors None

Other workers (Volunteers) 20 people

A.Most of the staff have tasted the impact of ecosystem destruction through the now obvious climate change (longer dry or wet seasons with more or less rain).

1.  Executive Director and  Agriculturist,

Abraham Hadoto has over 30 years in community development and in initiating community projects. He started a vegetable production, Pine Apple growing some 25 years ago in kangulumira which now covering the whole country, established a localized zero grazing program now operating in over five countries headquartered in UK. He has what it takes to implement and lead the project

2. Community Social worker,

Irene Sanyu Has over fifteen years working with fishing communities and with vast experience in community mobilization , sensitization and psycho-social counseling.

3. Operations and Administration Manager,

Abigail Kakuru has over three years in administering a university and for the project she will do well. She has a keen sense of operations and is excited by administrative works.

4. Finance manager,

Mrs Frances Washika has vast experience in Finance and accounting. She is trust worthy and with attention to details

5. I.C.T manager

Mr Edwin Wesonga has over five years in data base management for the government projects. He is excellent at the formation of databases and in their analysis.

6. Communications Manager

Mr. Masiga Romano is a seasoned tel-journalist with over five years  in the media in ecosystem reporting

Legal Counsel

Solomon Wafula and Daniel Hadoto work together to guide the lega ecosystem and business matters.

As the project grows, new skills will be needed such as engineers to build hatcheries and solar driers, health staff for health and nutrition monitoring, ecosystem biologists to manage the project biodiversity, legal staffs to address legal matters and food technologies to help with quality control and assurance . The project will need procurement and logisticians.

Women, men, girls, boys, the elderly and people with disability will be recruited according to skill irrespective of tribe political affiliation or denomination.

We are a zero tolerant organization to any form of discrimination and sexual harassment.

We believe in diversity, we know that we are all equal and should behave accordingly.

We believe that the broader the staff base the easier the project gets to be seen as a project for the people not a tribe or religion.

Fish for You is not guided by sectarian attitudes for the director and founder has worked in Uganda, largely a christian country, South Sudan broadly animist and Christian then in Pakistan and Darfur which have zero tolerance for Christianity and then in Haiti a difficult to place faith bias. He has supervised zero tolerance activities to any form of bias and discrimination. The project is on course in this matter.

Solve can help me link up with potential donors and especially in capacity building of project staffs.

Solve will help in confidence building both for the staff to believe that they are doing a job not just for the money but they are adding value to people's lives.

The government staff will trust that what the project is doing is worth the attention because of the involvement of Solve

Further with Solve linkages it will be easy to break funding barriers with local banks and other potential donors when they see the partnership of the organization with Solve.

Solve has a reputation which will boost the image of the organization before stake holders.

I also want Solve to be part of this innovative idea that will become as successful as people can not imagine now.

Fish for You is a very basic Idea which needs a technical staff who can give it a birds eye view and be able to help us tidy up our act.

But the project needs capital and the monitoring and evaluation processes that build the reputation of the organization to be able to contribute more efficiently to the targeted population.

Equipment, hardware, software and the machinery to empower he project become self reliant are a special need as many of the things in East Africa are either outdated or irrelevant to efficient production and hence Solves support will be greatly appreciated and will be a project support to success

I have no particular names, but I need support in positively criticizing the project so as to move the project better.

I will need the support from MIT faculty and initiatives.

Fish for you would help refugees to access quality animal protein and they can be capacity built to help ease their lifestyles.

The project can then target the water bodies near camps and in need be modify the project through use of other production enhancing methods like use of cages to enable hem become active  participants of the project.

The project does not need specialized skills but a little improvement to the traditional skills would boost their livelihoods, incomes and business skills.

As explained , the resources that help us to access as many people as possible without any limitation to race, creed or political aspirations is an excellent fit for me.

Uganda is a leading refuge country in Africa. Some of the refugee camps are along the Nile and near other water bodies.

I would particularly target these people since refugees are often some of the poorest individuals as they will have fled sometimes with only their lives.

If GM can help me access them, it is an excellent practice.

GM has some of the product we need like vehicles that we can deploy to do deliveries of fingerlings and deliver goods apart from helping staff move doing their administrative  work.

We have a women's project that targets fish value addition.

The resources derived from this fund would be used to empower women establish value addition facilities like fish cleaning shelters, Solar drying units, fresh and dry fish transportation crates.

Many women in Uganda are in the food selling but are  limited by absence of funds. The funds could be divided among women fish interest groups like those cleaning, transporting  or marketing.

The funds could be excellent source of funds for them.

The money could be used as seed money to move the women's project forward.

The Minderoo prize is addressing similar issues hat our project is addressing.

We seek stop over fishing by restocking the seas. We shall also be addressing issues of illegal fishing practices as we collaborate with the government of Uganda.

These funds would be slit between the procurement of fingerlings and the awareness creation of what constitutes legal and illegal fishing.

The resources would do a lot of good as we deploy it towards establishing transparent practices and accountability inn the fishing grounds.

We qualify because we are introducing fish drying using solar energy other than bio mass.

In the area of carbon dioxide we are in discussion with the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) to give us permission to plant trees of acceptable  species along the roads in the road reserves. These would do the tremendous duty of absorbing the carbon dioxide the project  vehicles will emit during project implementation activities.

At the same time we are doing energy saving stoves targeting minimizing carbon emission by reducing the charcoal used.

Rocket stoves help do the same job of limiting carbon dioxide but this time for those that use wood for heating and cooking.

The project will be highly dependent on data bases to aggregate performance factors of the project in order to be able to assess the success or failure of the project.

For the moment our understanding of the applications of artificial intelligence in our project is limited and will appreciate anyone who can help us see its applicability.

Health and nutrition are a big issue in Uganda.

25% of Ugandans were living on less than US $ 1.90 before the second lock down.

Up to 86.6% of Ugandans live on less than US $ 5.00 after the first lock down. Now we are on a second lock down which will likely worsen the situation of the poor and the segment of he absolute poor will increase.

So for Uganda poverty is a huge issue needing innovative solutions like ours.

Further, due o a rapid population growth of nearly 3%each yer is creating youth unemployment. The pandemic has made those in the service sector as domestic  workers loos their jobs as their employers fear their spreading COVID 19 from their homes as they come to work.

Creating youth employment in the fish value chain is an excellent benefit for Ugandans through us.