Aid to boost fish farmer profits

The programme aims to increase the profitability of fishing

Researchers at a Scots university are urging fish farmers in one of the world's poorest nations to become entrepreneurs.

Stirling University's aquaculture institute has devised a programme which aims to replace subsistence farming with profit making activity.

The course called "entrepreneurship in Aquaculture" will be offered to graduates and progressive farmers.

The scheme is being run thanks to a Scottish Government grant of £241,000.

Stirling's Dr Krishen Rana, an expert in the development of aquatic resources, said current methods left farmers in the country with little scope for generating wealth.

'Ordinary people'

He said: "There is an urgent need to commercialise small-holder aquaculture in Malawi, as subsistence farming cannot meet the demands of urban and regional markets, and offers little opportunity to generate surplus income that will improve the wellbeing of farmers.

"This project aims to provide food security to vulnerable communities by tackling the bottlenecks that are preventing commercialisation in Malawi, and promoting small-holder aquaculture as an agribusiness to a wide range of people, irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity, religion and disability."

The project is one of a number operating in Malawi which will receive more than £1m of international development funding, announced by Europe, External Affairs and Culture Minister Linda Fabiani.

She said: "We are enabling Scottish organisations in Malawi to further develop programmes which address the specific priority areas we have agreed with the Malawian Government.

"Many of the programmes we are supporting in this funding round are working to help address these issues and make a real difference to ordinary people.

"The value to the people of Malawi of these projects cannot be overestimated."