AYEI GETS AWARDED BY THE GOVERNMENT FOR ITS CONTRIBUTION IN AGRICULTURE

Posted by Fulgence Niyonkuru on 13 July 2021 1:50 PM CAT

AYEI main vision is to create avenues where the youth in rural areas will see their living conditions improved. We do this by introducing to them improved agricultural models proven to be both impactful and revenue-generating. Our drive being, to create employment, for them to reduce economic vulnerability and contribute to the emergence of professional Agri-preneur to play our part in attaining the first and second sustainable developments goals. 

AFRICAN YOUTH EMPLOYMENT INITIATIVES AYEI: BEST DISTRICT FISH FARMER IN JUABEN MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLYASHANTI REGION -THE YEAR 2020

Early last year African Youth Employment Initiatives AYEI started the implementation of its award projected by the African Union Bureau for Animal Resources, a project that was to establish an aquaponics-based food system to raise fish and train the youth, especially the women to embrace this new technology.  The project that was sited at Nobewam community of Juaben Municipal Assembly saw massive success from its inception as local authority , both government and traditional manifested vivid support of a project that aimed, not only at improving the lives of trainees, but also a project whose innovation and technology in fish farming marked a revolution in aquaculture.

drivers and rationale behind the innovation

The projects are innovated to mitigate issues related to environment protection, whereby, instead of having a massive land opening to give space to fish ponds, we rather thought of relatively small mounted ponds out of locally sourced materials to avoid earth digging. What made our innovators come up with this new technology was to attempt to solve the dilemma fish farmers encounter when it comes to access to water, access to lands, access to technologies, diseases outbreak control, etc.

We adopted this technology to create a system where the youth we train, gain skills and capacities required to start this venture, whereby they create jobs in the value chain, and we give them the knowledge they can also pass around for more jobs to be created in rural areas. We realized that to participate in the fight against hunger, we need to find models that could increase yields, make accessible fish products and by so doing, improve the health of the people as we transform our fish products into nutritious products needed to fight malnutrition and health-related diseases. Fish consumption was an alternative to other animal products that could be seen as less healthy for people in this area of diseases.

Vegetable production

This system makes it possible to associate fish and vegetable farming, an activity that can equally provide income to families, especially women who

may not have rights to big lands.

We wanted a job creating the system, a money-making machine where propagators are women who are seen as economically less advantaged in our rural villages.

The innovation that earned us an award as the  best fish farmer in the district

Our innovation consists of building and mounting in different ways, an aquaponics-based food system comprising of construction of a mechanized borehole that, with the help of a solar power system, feeds water into mounted ponds. The same energy supply powers the machines in the ponds. This model is an innovative technology that consists of essentially raised circular or rectangular ponds out of different materials (4m length by 3m width and 1m depth) constructed using local materials. 30W AC submersible water pump (located at one side of the fish tank) facilitates the waste collection and ensures continual aeration and circulation of pond/tank water. An installed biofilter cleans and oxygenates the water and the sedimentation tank mesh setup constitutes a rich habitat for nitrobacteria that helps in breaking down nitrites in water into nitrates, which can readily be absorbed by plants. The system is designed to allow the collection of fish faecal waste as compost raw material to be used in compost making. The compost produced is used as a soil amendment and source of nutrients for the cultivation of crops, reducing the use of conventional inorganic fertilizers. The aquaponics system involves the channeling of fish waste from the ponds as the main source of nutrient-rich irrigation water for crop production

The ponds are regularly emptied through the outer bucket and the water from the ponds which contains very rich nutrients is used to irrigate the vegetables around the ponds, reducing the use of chemical fertilizer as this water is enough to make a very nice garden producing all types of vegetables all year round.

Value addition

To add value to fish products, the innovation is to produce these fish that are later smoked by our constructed smoking plant and transformed into many other marketable products such as fish fillets and nuggets … in high demand by our identified off-takers. The same innovation produces rich organic vegetables that are in high demand on our local markets or consumed by farmers themselves.

We train the youth into Different ponds layout designs where we involve them during constructions and we train them on maintenance of all the associated gadgets and machines, how to feed and raise fish for a six-month cycle.

High Level of Inclusivity

Its level of inclusivity is high as both educated and non-educated youth many of whom are women, are trained to work in the value chain to make the system a symbiosis relationship where many of them get involved during vegetable cultivation, marketing of fish products, etc. It is a type of farming designed for marginalized physically handicapped as feeding and taking care of the fish can be done by some people with limited mobility as it is labor less intensive. We designed it to also help retired people or those in advanced age who would like to still have a reliable source of income to cater for their needs in their old age and also make them produce healthy products that can maintain their good health as they age. In the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, innovation is the best fit as one may comfortably stay at home while farming in the backyard of the home.

Healthy products 

Besides its economic, social, and environmental impact, this type of farming provides healthy products that are consumed by people in rural areas who would have found it hard to get. Consuming vegetables and fish products is essentially a good health improving activity that in the long run benefits everyone. Making available these varieties of vegetables in a great quantity also reduces the cost and makes it affordable and accessible to everyone

Linking our project to Information communication Technology

In our efforts to adhere to the protocols of the prevention of propagation of the COVID 19, we thought of designing an e-learning hub where our trainees continuously get abreast with technicalities and good practices related to this farming. We designed a mobile application where we release information on how to maintain the system at all its stages. This helps farmers keep receiving information on each stage from ponds designs and construction to fingerlings soaking ponds to the day of harvest…vegetable cultivation, fish smoking, etc. A WhatsApp group is animated by our experts who share relevant information regarding caretaking and whatever we deem fit to inform our subscribed trainees.