iCare-Fish | Fish Welfare Awareness & Farmer Engagement

iCare-Fish

PROJECT COMPLETION REPORT

Building Fish Welfare Awareness and Farmer Engagement

Ufuoma, Uteh, Urhobo and Egbiri Clusters | Delta and Edo States, Nigeria

Project detail

Information

Funding source

ACX / Manifund

Grant amount

$10,000

Implementation period

December 2025 – August 2026 (9 months)

Implementing organization

iCare-Fish

Project focus

Fish-welfare education, farmer engagement and field follow-up

1. Executive Summary

With support from ACX/Manifund, iCare-Fish implemented a farmer-engagement project to strengthen practical awareness of fish welfare and encourage welfare-conscious day-to-day farm management. Implementation ran from December 2025 to August 2026. The original implementation period was extended to nine months to allow additional time for farmer engagement, farm visits, follow-up discussions and completion of activities, without requesting additional grant funding. Theproject worked through four established farmer clusters: Ufuoma in Delta State, and Uteh, Urhobo and Egbiri in Edo State. It recorded 197 participant engagements: 75 in Ufuoma, 52 in Uteh, 55 in Urhobo and 15 in Egbiri. Activities included farmer education, community engagement, farm visits and discussions about practical issues such as water and environmental conditions, oxygen availability, feeding, fish handling and general farm management. Training and awareness activities helped improve farmers’ understanding of fish-welfare issues. During sessions and field discussions, farmers had opportunities to ask questions, relate the information to challenges on their farms and discuss practical responses. This is a meaningful qualitative result. In summary, the project strengthened engagement across four clusters, delivered practical fish-welfare education, created opportunities for farm-level discussion and generated lessons for the next phase. The main learning is to retain the trusted, farmer-centred approach while introducing simple, consistent baseline and follow-up measures to document changes in knowledge and practices more clearly.

2. Project Goal and Objectives

Goal: To increase practical awareness of fish welfare among fish farmers and strengthen direct engagement with farmers across participating clusters.

• Engage farmers through existing cluster and community relationships.

• Provide practical education on fish welfare and everyday farm-management issues.

• Use farm visits and follow-up discussions to connect training with real farm conditions.

• Build relationships and implementation experience that can support more measurable future interventions.

3. Implementation Period and Scope

The project was initially planned for seven months. During implementation, the period was extended to nine months, ending in August 2026. The additional time supported further farmer engagement, field contact and completion of planned activities. The original proposal described a broader ambition to work in five clusters across Delta, Edo, Kwara and Lagos States, train farmers, and measure knowledge and practice change. The completed project records document activity in four clusters in Delta and Edo States and 197 participants.

4. Activities Delivered

Farmer education and awareness: Group sessions and discussions focused on practical ways to reduce fish mortality, welfare-focused feeding practices, low-stress fish handling, and effective water-quality management to improve fish welfare on farms.

Community and cluster engagement: The project worked through existing farmer groups and cluster contacts to mobilise participants, encourage questions and discuss issues relevant to local farming conditions.

Farm visits and follow-up discussions: Direct engagement on farms gave the team opportunities to discuss concerns in context and explore realistic responses with farmers.

Continued communication: Farmers in Ufuoma proposed a dedicated iCare-Fish WhatsApp group as a way to continue sharing information and discussing farm-related concerns after in-person engagement.

5. Reach and Documented Outputs

Cluster / location

Documented participants

Main engagement documented

Ufuoma, Ekpan/Warri, Delta State

75

Farmer training, cluster engagement and farm follow-up

Uteh Cluster, Benin, Edo State

52

Farmer training and cluster engagement

Urhobo Cluster, Benin, Edo State

55

Farmer training and cluster engagement

Egbiri Cluster, Benin, Edo State

15

Farmer/cluster engagement

TOTAL

197

Four participating clusters

6. Outcomes and Impact

6.1 Improved awareness and understanding

The training and awareness implementation period gave participating farmers opportunities to learn about fish-welfare concerns, ask questions and discuss how those concerns relate to everyday farm management. Field conversations indicated improved understanding of the issues discussed. This is reported as a qualitative outcome based on engagement and implementation experience, not as a statistically measured change.

6.2 Stronger farmer relationships and engagement

Working through existing farmer groups supported mobilisation and direct communication. Farm visits and follow-up discussions helped connect general awareness messages with conditions farmers encounter on their farms.

6.3 A pathway for continued communication

The proposal by Ufuoma farmers to create a dedicated iCare-Fish WhatsApp group showed interest in maintaining contact beyond face-to-face sessions. This represents an opportunity for continued learning.

6.4 Contribution to iCare-Fish’s implementation capacity

The project gave iCare-Fish practical experience in organising cluster-based activities, delivering farmer education, maintaining field contact and identifying issues that require more structured follow-up. These lessons are informing the design of a more focused pilot with clearer monitoring.

7. Monitoring, Evidence and Limitations

The project did not consistently apply the same pre-training and post-training assessments across all activities. Consequently, iCare-Fish cannot confirm the exact number of farmers whose fish-welfare knowledge improved. However, farmers’ testimonies and observations during farm visits provided evidence that some participants had changed their usual farming practices following the training and awareness activities, and that these changes were sustained over time. For example, some trained farmers reported, and field observations confirmed, a change in pond water management. Rather than maintaining low water levels to facilitate frequent water exchange, these farmers had begun maintaining pond water levels within the recommended range. This sustained change in practice provides a practical example of how the project’s education and engagement activities translated into improvements in farm management relevant to fish welfare. Although the project did not systematically quantify the number of farmers who adopted these practices, the testimonies and field observations demonstrate meaningful progress beyond awareness alone. This experience highlights the value of combining practical education with farm visits and follow-up. In future implementation, iCare-Fish will strengthen its monitoring by recording baseline practices, documenting changes during follow-up visits, and tracking how many farmers adopt and sustain specific fish-welfare improvements.

8. Financial Summary

The project received a grant of $10,000. The expenditure figures provided for this report are summarised below. The total and balance are arithmetically consistent; supporting receipts and payment records should be retained for verification and submitted if requested by the funder.

Expenditure item

Amount (USD)

Project lead stipends

$4,667

Facilitator stipends and accommodation

$333

Venue, refreshments, souvenirs, branded caps and shirts

$1,750

Interstate travel, farm visits and accommodation

$2,500

Field assistance stipends

$700

Total expenditure

$9,950

Unspent grant balance

$50

9. Lessons Learned

• Farmers engage more readily when fish-welfare education is linked to practical challenges they already face.

• Existing farmer groups can make mobilisation and follow-up more feasible.

• Farm visits complement group sessions by allowing discussions to take place in the context of actual farm conditions.

• A longer implementation period creates more time for engagement, but time alone does not replace systematic outcome measurement.

• Simple, consistent baseline and follow-up tools are essential for demonstrating knowledge change and practice adoption.

10. Next Steps

The next phase will build on the relationships established through this project by piloting a practical, farm-level intervention focused on water-quality monitoring and corrective measures. Poor water quality can expose fish to stress, impair their health and increase mortality. The pilot will therefore support farmers to monitor key water-quality parameters, identify conditions that may compromise fish welfare, and take appropriate corrective action when necessary. The impact will be measured by recording baseline water-quality conditions and existing management practices on participating farms, tracking changes in water quality following corrective measures, and documenting whether farmers consistently apply the recommended practices during follow-up visits. Fish health indicators, including observed signs of stress and recorded mortality where reliable records are available, will also be monitored to assess potential welfare improvements. By linking practical monitoring with timely corrective action and structured farmer education, iCare-Fish aims to reduce exposure to harmful water conditions and improve the health and welfare of farmed fish. Lessons from the pilot will guide future improvements and support the development of a more measurable, evidence-based approach to fish welfare in Nigerian aquaculture.

11. Conclusion

The ACX/Manifund grant enabled iCare-Fish to deliver fish-welfare education and farmer engagement across four clusters in Delta and Edo States over an extended nine-month implementation period ending in August 2026. The project documented 197 participant engagements, provided opportunities for farmers to discuss practical welfare issues, and strengthened iCare-Fish’s experience in cluster-based outreach and farm engagement. The training and awareness activities contributed to improved understanding, as indicated by implementation discussions and farmer engagement; however, the scale of that change was not quantified through a consistent pre/post assessment. The project’s principal contribution was to establish and deepen farmer engagement while identifying how future work can produce stronger evidence of change. iCare-Fish will carry these lessons into the next phase by combining practical education with more consistent monitoring of knowledge, farm practices and follow-up outcomes.

Picture 1: iCare-Fish team with stakeholders after a session in Benin City.

Picture 2: A fish-welfare training session in Warri.

Picture 3: Members of the Ufuoma cluster after a training session.

Picture 4: A fish-welfare training session with members of the Ufuoma cluster.