Lofty Farm was established in 2017, through the creation of ponds that are fed by fresh water from Lake Nangbéto.
Arnold Akakpovi is the farm’s manager: “We have enough oxygen, which is good for tilapia. We have a pH which is gentle for tilapia,” he says.
The farm has a supply of bottled oxygen on site which is connected to the ponds of fingerlings by flexible hoses, a technology that many fish farms in the region do not have.
Before being a successful fish farmer, Akakpovi worked in the mineral water and renewable energies sectors.
However, in 2017 he started farming tilapia in Kpessi, on Lake Togo, before losing the entire farm in a flood in the same year. The disaster cost him $650,000, but he then relocated to Lake Nangbéto the following year.
“It is fresh water all year round. Sometimes in rainy season, the water is cloudy, however, it is a fish paradise throughout the year compared to Lake Togo, where the water becomes brackish in the rainy season,” he says – referring to the incursion of seawater from the Atlantic into the lake during times of heavy rains and high tides.
Akakpovi now claims to be able to listen and talk to tilapia.
“Yes. Sometimes I listen to them and know what they want,” he enthuses.
The company has created over 280 direct jobs and 1,000 indirect jobs and he advises young people wishing to venture into the sector to be passionate about fish.
Source link : https://thefishsite.com/articles/togos-tilapia-king-pierrot-kokou-akakpovi-lofty-farm
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Publish date : 2023-11-24 08:00:00
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