* Develop and leave for use a practical, fish production tool with guidelines.
====The studyintent====
Fingerponds will be located in 6 villages, distributed in three countries (Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, 2 villages in each country) in order to assess fish yields under a range of sociological and environmental conditions. Within each village, we will test the effects of additional fringe vegetation and manure addition in a full factorial design, yielding a total of 24 ponds.
* Associated seasonal raised-bed agriculture for food production is cost-beneficial.
====The study results====
Main limitations to productivity of the ponds were high turbidity, notably in the Ugandan sites, which limited phytoplankton and periphyton productivity. A large proportion of the yield consisted of small recruits originating from tilapias reproducing in the Fingerponds. The environmental impact of Fingerponds in terms of habitat destruction, nutrient leaching, and disease vectors was estimated to be generally low. No enhancement of human disease vectors, such as bilharzia snails or mosquitos, was observed.
In terms of livelihoods benefits, Fingerponds in Kusa, Kenya contributed to the natural, physical, human and social assets of the community. During the project, the financial benefits of Fingerponds to the communities were limited because most fish was consumed by the household, but in terms of income and return to labour Fingerponds were comparable to other agricultural activities undertaken by the households such as cultivation of vegetables. Based on the experimental yields achieved and the assumption that one household owns one pond, Fingerponds potentially contribute about 3 kg fish per capita per year to the household diet (equivalent to 38 % of current consumption in Africa).
For more information on the '''Fingerponds Project''': see [http://www.ihe.nl/Fingerponds UNESCO-IHE website].
