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Turn poultry waste into fish feeds, farmers urged
Dr Godfrey Kubiriza Kawooya, the Head of the Department of Zoology, Entomology & Fisheries Sciences at Makerere University addresses farmers in a training in Mukono District on Thursday. Photo | Jessica Sabano
What you need to know:
- Dr Godfrey Kubiriza Kawooya, Head of the Department of Zoology, Entomology & Fisheries Sciences at Makerere University, emphasised the need for this innovation.
Experts from Makerere University are urging poultry farmers to adopt a new technology that converts poultry by-products into fish feeds, aiming to reduce reliance on costly imported feeds.
Dr Godfrey Kubiriza Kawooya, Head of the Department of Zoology, Entomology & Fisheries Sciences at Makerere University, emphasised the need for this innovation.
He was addressing fish and poultry farmers at the dissemination meeting in Mukono on Thursday, under the project dubbed: “Towards Upscaling Use of Poultry by Products in the Formulation of Commercial Fish Feeds in Uganda (TUPPCO)”.
"The project aims at addressing the high cost of imported fish feeds, which poses significant logistical challenges. Currently, only 20 per cent of fish feeds are locally made, and they are expensive and of low quality," he stated
Dr Kawooya highlighted the potential of using unhatched eggs, offals, and discarded cocks to manufacture fish feeds.
"We need to devise solutions to utilise less competed-for protein raw materials to conserve the environment and address unemployment," he said.
One of the fish farmers, Mr Arthur Blick Sr, welcomed the idea but suggested that large companies should handle feed processing due to the high cost of machinery.
"As local farmers, we cannot afford to buy the expensive processing machines," he said.
Mukono District Fisheries Officer, Mr William Isebaiddu praised the innovation, saying: "This project will boost fish and aquaculture production in the country, as many farmers had abandoned the business due to high feed costs."
The project, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Makerere University, aims to upscale the use of poultry by-products in commercial fish feed formulation in Uganda.
