Catfish farming: A New Wave of Economic Growth in Zimbabwe

By Regina Pasipanodya

In Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland East province where agriculture has been the backbone of many livelihoods, Tinotenda Karimbira, a passionate agro-preneurship in the catfish business has been thriving despite being from a community that is prone to droughts and unpredictable rainfall patterns.

“I have always been interested in farming since I was young, which is why I used to find myself glued to research with an open mind that one day I will find some venture that would thrive despite being in an ecological zone with harsh climate conditions.

Karimbika (52) of Mushimbo village’s thriving fish farming venture is a testament to the potential of aquaculture in Zimbabwe towards economic growth. With three ponds that have a capacity for 3000 fish each, his venture in catfish farming has not only improved his livelihood but also become an inspiration to others looking to tap into the lucrative industry.

“Per each harvest, I make around $2000-$2500 because I take this as a business although at times I feed my family with some fish,” he added.

Karimbira is one of the farmers in Zimbabwe who has embraced aquaculture as a business, something that has seen a diversification of the country’s agronomy.

Aquaculture in Zimbabwe

Over the years, Zimbabwe has increasingly tapped into fish farming with communities gradually discovering and understanding that aquaculture has the potential to become a sustainable way to boost their incomes, create jobs, and promote food security.

Just like many other people across the country who have embraced this new landscape in agribusiness, Karimbira managed to establish an aquaculture business operating from his homestead in Mutoko where he managed to establish three ponds.

“Since January 2024, I have managed to have two series of harvests for all three ponds. I have established two ponds for catfish and one for tilapia fish after I realized that catfish farming is cost-effective yet gives more benefits as compared to tilapia.

The only challenge that I have been facing is the supply of catfish fingerlings for consistency but currently, this has been solved because I realised that I can get the fingerlings from the Catfish growers of Zimbabwe.

Economic Potential

Director for Zimbabwe Catfish Growers, Moses Tawanda Hakutangwi said through this initiative they have been growing fish for business and supplying fingerlings to other farmers.

“We are dealing with both Tilapia and Catfish because we realised that these two species can complement each other. With catfish you can produce fish meal for tilapia or vice versa,” said Hakutangwi.

At the facility in Gletwin, the Catfish Growers of Zimbabwe has established 12 breeding ponds with a capacity of 300 females.

“Every day we harvest about 20000-30 000 fries, which means that each month we get around 900 000 fries and with these fingerlings, some of them we grow them, supply to other farmers and with others we support the Presidential Fishery scheme.

“One of the benefits of catfish farming is that it grows fast as compared to other fish. It’s easy to grow, it’s easy to produce, it’s not expensive. Apart from the meat, we use this catfish in the production of fish meal and within six months we harvest at least 800g to 1 kg of catfish size. So with the number of dams and the quantity of water that we have in Zimbabwe, we are saying let’s diversify instead of growing only tilapia, let’s go into catfish farming. This fish survives well. It’s not captured. It grows fast and the people have something to eat in the country,” added Hakutangwi.

Catfish Growers Zimbabwe has been in operation for about three years now and currently, they are training farmers and those who want to do catfish production because it is believed that fish farming can change the economy of the country.

Fisheries and Aquaculture Resources Production Department Director in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Mr. Milton Makumbe said they have called upon stakeholders like Catfish Growers of Zimbabwe to partner with the government to achieve a multi-billion economy.

“What is unique about the Catfish Growers Zimbabwe is that they have started diversifying their business breeding both tilapia and catfish which is one of the fastest growing fish in the world.

As we move towards a billion-dollar economy for fish and aquaculture, we are saying we need all the help that we can get from different stakeholders to achieve Vision 2030.