YAP Proposal #419: Catfish hatching and rearing (Emmanuel Enema, Nigeria)

My name is Adanyi Emmanuel Enema. I am 26 years old. I was born on the 27th of May 1989 and I am a Nigerian living close to Abuja.

What?

I am applying for this grant to help me start and grow my catfish rearing and hatching operation. I started out catfish rearing on August 15^th, 2015 with just 250 juvenile catfish. Due to limited funds I could not expand the business.

I have started out the rearing operation and want to commence the hatching operation. I have got the training and have built the pond for the hatching.

I want to hatch, rear and at the same time sell the catfish either at the juvenile or at table size. I want to rear about 5000-12000 catfish in four batches to be able to harvest 1000-3000 every three months.

I will definitely need some help to be able to employ about two people for a start, and subsequently employ more as we grow.

This business will help to make available in my community more fish and a major source of edible protein at an affordable price.

Why?

I am so passionate about the fish business because fishing is my hobby; I grew up liking it. I also love farming on a general scale. My parents were farmers.

I stand to make some good profit from the sales of the fish and will create employment for the persons that will work for me.

How?

I intend to sink a well (borehole) to have a reliable source of water. I will construct six concrete ponds of 12 by 15 feet for around a thousand catfish. I will subsequently add more tarpaulin ponds or build more concrete ponds.

I know buyers that are ready to buy at any time and in case they are not ready to buy, I can dry or smoke the fish and sell them. I have reared 250 catfish twice from August 2015 to March 2016, and I had my hatching pond constructed on the 5th of February 2016.

I have also gone for hatching training to lean more. I will keep going for more training and seminars.

Budget

I will use the $5000 grant for the following:

Sinking a well (borehole): $1550.
Pond construction (three ponds, $340 each): $1018.
Purchase of water two storage tanks (GeePee Tank): $507.
Feed purchase: $1525.
Hatching materials: $155.
Purchase/construction of tarpaulin ponds: not immediately.
Purchase of fish antibiotics: $100.
Others: Uncertain.

Within four to eight months I should have my fish ready for harvest.

The fish business is a sustainable business because people eat fish almost every day. It is sustainable based on its necessity for vital nutrient provision and the demand from the market.

 

Blogpost and picture submitted by Emmanual Enema (Abuja, Nigeria) – emmanuelenema[at]gmail.com

The content, structure and grammar is at the discretion of the author only.

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This post is published as proposal #419 of “YAP” – our “Youth Agripreneur Project”.

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