From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:TANZANIA: VILLAGERS BENEFIT FROM FISHING PROJECT
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 13:40:42 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1993, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Africa, southern
Reference: Agriculture
Title: TANZANIA: VILLAGERS BENEFIT FROM FISHING PROJECT


an inter press service feature

by alpha nuhu

ujiji, tanzania, jan 18 (ips) -- five years ago maria haji would
never have believed the sprawling lake tanganyika surrounding
her home would one day change her life.

today 30-year-old maria, a widowed subsistence farmer in
this village in western tanzania, is rejoicing after realising
that the freshwater lake is a source of health and wealth.

she is among 200 villagers in rural kigoma district benefiting
from a revolving fund credit scheme introduced by the u.n. food
and agriculture organisation (fao) to help small-scale
fisherpersons in the area.

about 150,000 fisherpersons contribute about 90 percent of
tanzania's annual fish catch of 72,000 metric tonnes.

but due to lack of fishing gear, transport, storage and
marketing facilities, between 30 and 40 percent of the catch
is spoiled annually before reaching consumers.

''the spoilage is higher in marine than freshwater fish'',
says prof philip bwathondi, director-general of the tanzania
fisheries research institute.

a fao study carried out between 1979 and 1984 to establish
the potential of tanzania's fish yield estimates, that with
modern fishing equipment, this east african country could reach
an annual catch of 730,000 metric tonnes.

the primary goal of the lake tangayika fao-supported project
is to provide technical assistance and soft loans to small-scale
fisherpersons in 10 selected villages to enable them increase
productivity and improve their socio-economic conditions.

the fao and tanzania's cooperative and rural development
bank (crdb) are implementing the project. the bank has been
entrusted with the task of giving loans to the fisherpersons in
the selected villages.

''this scheme has achieved remarkable succeddlfrom the point
of view of loan recovery and use with a positive economic
impact'', says aldul mdee, the crdb deputy general manager.

mdee says since 1984,when the project was launched, the bank
has loaned over 500,000 dollars to 10 villagers (group
borrowers) and 200 individual fisherpersons. (more/ips)


tanzania: villagers (2)

''the demand for credits is higher than what the revolving
fund can accommodate at any particular time. fisherpersons have
tasted the fruits of the project as their annual incomes have
jumped from 100 to 1,000 dollars between 1984 and 1991'',
he says.

''there is now an urgent need to introduce the programme to
other small-scale fisherpersons in other areas of the
country''.

maria says the project has ''acceleraled my escape from
povery. the fear of leading a miserable life after my husband's
death no longer bothers me as i can feed my two children and
remain with enough money to repay the bank loan.

''whoever thought of launching this project here should be
thanzoglxtgnheir far-sightedness. they have opened the door to
prosperity for many people who were living in abject poverty'',
says alfred msokolo, another beneficiary of the project.

drawing experience from the lake tanganyika village fisheries
project, the fao carried out field surveys in 1991 to determine the
national lemank for fishing gear in this east african nation.  the
survey aimed to expand the project to other parts of the country,
particularly around lake victoria (in the north-west) and nyasa (in
the south) and the indian ocean coast.

the nation survey resulted in the launching in february last
year of a similar project worth 608,260 dollars in villages
along the shores of lake victoria in the north-western kagera
region (province).

the lake victoria project will concentrate on environmental
protection of fishing villages badly affected by deforestation,
says fao technical advisor lord rod beare.

tanzanian fisheries scientists say wanton tree-felling by
villagers around africa's biggest lake has drastically reduced
fish catches and made fish smoking impossible due to lack of
sufficient fuelwood.

''taking this fact into account, this project will
concentrate on preserving the environment, alleviating
technological problems impeding the development of the fisheries
industry in tanzania and improving the standard of living of
rural communities'', beare told ips.

the project also aims to improve the nutrition status of the
rural communities where the majority of the children and adults
suffer from malnutrition and other dietary deficiencies, adds
the fao official. (end/ips/an/apc/93)
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