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The Projet de valorisation des ressources génétiques animales et aquacoles locales dans l'espace UEMOA (PROGEVAL), a three-year research and development project funded by theWest African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and implemented by CORAF and its partners, has helped to boost the incomes and livelihoods of fish farmers in the region.

Klodan Sanogo, an Ivorian by trade, has had a particularly tough year. Mr. Sanogo devoted a lot of time, energy and money to his cocoa farm during the 2018 agricultural season, in the hope of increasing his yield and income. Alas, the effects of Swollen Shoot (Cacao Viral Disease) on his farm resulted in a significant drop in production and an unexpected dry financial loss.

But thanks to the new fish farming practices introduced to the region by PROGEVAL, this 52-year-old farmer has been able to make up for the financial losses he suffered.

"Fish farming has saved my life and that of my family," said Mr. Sanogo, flashing a big smile from his farm in Bahompa, a town in west-central Côte d'Ivoire.

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Since 2016, researchers have redoubled their efforts to understand the genetic characteristics of sheep, cattle, guinea fowl, Catfish and tilapia in five West African countries, with the main aim of further increasing the productivity of these species. More specifically, researchers have been at the forefront of the development of quality inputs (feed and fry), but have also enhanced farmers' knowledge of best practices in aquaculture.

Fish farmers in Bahompa, and other players in the value chain, have come together since 2016 under an agreement enabling them to learn new practices, share the challenges they face and collectively seek solutions. This problem-solving approach, around an innovation platform, has been essential to the valorization of research results in Côte d'Ivoire.

"Since I received new fish feed and fingerlings, my production has increased considerably," rejoices 52-year-old Mr. Sanogo.

When we met Sanogo at his fish farm in late October 2018, his enthusiasm was visible. The extra income generated by fish farming had given him financial stability to the point where he was now looking to buy a new car, worthy of his new standard of living.

"I'm going to order a 4×4 car this year," he declared with great confidence. For him, the decision to buy a new car is justified not only by a desire to improve his standard of living, but also by a concern to facilitate his operations such as transporting inputs to his farm and harvesting to market.

Research carried out as part of the PROGEVAL project, funded by UEMOA to the tune of 520 million FCFA (around 1 million USD), should provide sustainable solutions that not only improve yields, contribute to nutrition and food security for the population, but also generate livelihoods for the population, lifting them out of the vicious circle of poverty.

The results are already having a lasting impact, helping to ease the burden on Sanogo and his household: "I lost weight when cocoa prices started to fall. As you can see now, I'm getting my strength back," he laughs.

"I sent my child to study in Canada".

Côte d'Ivoire's central-western region is considered the country's second-largest aquaculture area, after Daloa, Abidjan and Abengourou, which are considered fish farming zones par excellence.

Diallo Issa is one of the fish farmers who has benefited most from the introduction of new fish farming practices. For decades, Issa earned most of his income from cocoa production. But with yields steadily declining and income dwindling, Diallo began to focus more of his efforts on fish farming.

For this father of eight children, he is so proud to announce that, thanks to the sale of fish, he was recently able to send one of his sons to study in Canada.

"I sold fish and used the income to pay my three children's university tuition fees, at 150,000 FCFA (300 USD) each. The rest of the money was used to send one of my sons to Canada," he says.

"I want to enlarge my fish ponds".

Zanga Diarrasouba, 53, is Senoufo, an ethnic group mainly from northern Côte d'Ivoire. He migrated to the south of the country in 1988 to work on cocoa plantations. Recently, he still had a plantation of around five hectares of cocoa.

"In 2018, I didn't earn anything substantial from my plantation," he says.

But with his newly acquired knowledge of fish farming and new inputs obtained, Diarrasouba produced around 1.5 tons of fish in 2018. He is now looking to intensify his production due to the profitability of the sector.

"I want to expand my fish ponds," says Diarrassouba.

Lack of fish feed and fry, hindered expansion

For the past three years, CORAF, CIRDES (Centre International de recherche-développement sur l'élevage en zone subhumide ) and the other players involved in this project have been striving to turn fish farming into a profitable economic activity.

Quality fish feed, availability of fingerlings, land and working capital are among the essential inputs for successful fish farming, say the experts.

But as we noted throughout our report from Côte d'Ivoire, many producers are hampered in developing their aquaculture farms by the lack of availability of quality fish feed and fingerlings.

"I want to expand my fish ponds. My biggest challenge now is to obtain fish feed," says Zanga Diarrasouba.

"Without water and inputs such as fish feed, it becomes difficult to expand my farm," says Issa, who remains optimistic for the future.

Most of the 220 fish farmers in the region would like to have quality feed to develop their aquaculture activities.

"This could potentially be part of the second part of the project. Part of what we're planning for the future is to explore ways of getting some farmers here to take over the feed production side," said Dr Cyrille Kouassi, national coordinator of the PROGEVAL project in Côte d'Ivoire.