Burkina Faso: Youth succeeds in producing fish, papayas, and vegetables (AgribusinessTV)

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Thomas d’Aquin Wendata Dibri is passionate about agriculture. So much so that he practices two types: fish farming and vegetable farming. Theis young man is proud as he shows off his farm, located in Fada N’gourma, 200 km east of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. 

He fFounded the farm in May 2018 and, he  he raises fish while also growing vegetables and papaya on a space measuring about 6,300 square metres of land. He calls his farm “Icon Eco.”

Icon Eco This is an ecological farm that integrates fish and vegetable using an integrated system of production. Mr. Dibri explains, “So tThe water is first used for rearing fish. A and after draining the water from the fish ponds, the water is used either for watering papayas or vegetables.”

The water that is drained from the fish ponds is very rich in nutrients, due to waste left over by the fish, and which can be used tofor fertilizesing the vegetableslegumes  and fruit trees. Theis system also saves water. 

Mr. Dibri says, “My first motivation for starting such a farm was a passion to produce.”

Mr. Dibri He started slowly, first installing a pump to support the production of vegetable productions. In November 2019, he started to farm fish. Now he produces up to 200 kg of fish per month year-round in for 12 months, with nine large fish ponds. 

He explains:, “The investments are made in stages. The first step is to already have the basins, the containers. It can be basins;, it can be ponds. Still, you have to have the space in which we are going to raise the fish.” 

Mr. DibriHe used durable materials to buildt nine basins of durable materials with high walls. It was an investment of around five5 million FCFA, a little more than $8,900 USD.

A pump helps ensure with a good flow of water circulation. The next investment was oxygenators to bring oxygen into the fish ponds. This eis cost s about 125,000 to 130,000 FCFA, a little more than $230 USD. .

But, wWith these investments, he can get araise a good number of fish population fromin his ponds. 

But sStarting a new business hasn’t been easy. Mr. Dibri explains says that hethey currently produces alevin, or fry— – small juvenile fish— in a juvenile stage  ̶  although they he isare also working towards rearing larger fish.   

He adds,, “But cCurrently, we have reduced our production because of the low yield of the borehole. We first thought of it was a pump problem. So, tThat does not discourage me too much. Because of the pump, we can change that easily.”

Even with these challenges, he has impressed his neighbours and fellow fish farmers. Zakaria Tiendrebeogo is a fish farmer and client of Mr. Dibri. He had difficulty bringing in alevin from Ouagadougou, so he spoke to Mr. Dibri.

Mr. Tiendrebeogo He saysadds:, “It’s a very good initiative. I call [Mr. Dibri]him the stubborn supplier. Because he didn’t just deliver the fry to me. HIt is he also who followed up on all the work onf the basins, right to the end, and in line with his requirements. After delivery too, it is he who always follows up. “

Mr. Dibri helps other peoples, especially young people, to get started in fish farming. He explains:, “Me, I would always like to be involved in production. But the fact that this farm is in the city centre also makes it possible to show a certain number of young people—  ̶  and also adults—  ̶  that it is possible to produce, in an environmentally-friendly and profitable way.”

This story is adapted from a video called “Il rêve de vivre de sa passion” produced by AgribusinessTV. To watch the video, go to: https://agribusinesstv.info/fr/il-reve-de-vivre-de-sa-passion/https://agribusinesstv.info/fr/il-reve-de-vivre-de-sa-passion/