ACTIONAID CELEBRATE FISH HARVESTING IN SENGA HILL

ActionAid Zambia (AAZ) in collaboration with the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock facilitated a fish harvest in Mukungwa Village of Senga Hill District.
ActionAid has been empowering women groups of the Northern Province, specifically Senga Hill District, through the provision of fish farming inputs such as fingerlings and fish feed in order to build resilient livelihoods by promoting increased household income through diversification of income sources and aiding food self-sufficiency for rural households which will help in fighting poverty in communities of Zambia.
Furthermore, fish farming has helped reduce the heavy dependence on crop cultivation as a source of income, which has been adversely affected by disruptions in the annual rainfall pattern.
The harvest by the Mukungwa Women’s Fish Farming Group on 10th July follows a previous intervention by ActionAid in December 2023 where five Women Groups were supported with fish farming inputs cumulatively amounting to 15,000 fingerlings and 90 bags of fish feed (starter, grower and finisher) shared among the 5 groups. 
The women’s group, consisting of 25 members, was assisted with a total number of 3500 mixed sex fish fingerlings. 
The harvest has since been done with sales currently still underway. 
For the Mukungwa Women Fish farmers a total of 120 kilograms of fish was harvested which translates to ZMK 9,000.00 as partial harvest from their 3500 fish fingerlings that they had stocked.
This harvest has come at a best marketing time when the famous Lake Tanganyika in the neighboring district Mpulungu that supplies most fish supplements is currently under the fish burn period to allow fish breeding as part of sustainable natural resources management.
It is further anticipated that the group members intend to use the proceeds from the sale to purchase more fingerlings in order to upscale the venture and also encourage group members to individually replicate the innovation for household food security and income generation.
Further, this will lead or translate to low Gender Based Violence (GBV) cases as most cases in Zambia rural communities are directly related to lack of economic empowerment for the households.
Senga Hill District Administrative Officer, Tammy Mambwe indicated that the intervention to promote aquaculture in communities has successfully empowered the women of Mukungwa Village as they now have a sustainable source of income that will aid in improving their overall way of life.
Continued support and expansion of this initiative can further enhance the impact and benefit more members of the community.
As part of the sustainability plan AAZ through the Northern Hub is currently working in partnership with the Senga Hill District Administration office under the office of the District Commissioner and the key line Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock to employ sustainable approaches of the program deliverables as enshrined in the AAZ Child Sponsorship phase out Plan.
Prior to the harvest day AAZ Northern Hub Office organized a planning meeting for the harvest of which the Senga Hill District Administrator Tammy Mambwe represented the office of the District Commissioner, and the Fisheries Officer were all in attendance to appreciate the laid down plan by the farmers. Who have since bought the fishing gear at as a team worth K6,000.00 which they are currently sharing