Swimming upstream: Reggae musician turned aquatic farmer sells fish during lockdown

This aquatic farmer, Reekie Moyo of Musina built his fish pond and makes a living by selling the fresh fish to the public.

The high demand for fresh fish has compelled an emerging self-taught entrepreneur to try his luck in an unusual type of entrepreneurship, aquatic farming. A few months down the line, his hard work and perseverance are paying off.

Taking a risk

This is the encouraging story of Reekie Moyo of Musina in Limpopo, the man who was not afraid to take a risk despite the high temperatures of his border town.

He explains how his dream came about.

“I have a lot of friends who do not eat any meat except fish. Most of the time, they kept complaining that they need fresh fish straight from the water. They indicated that it was difficult to get fresh fish here and they need someone who can supply them with fresh fish locally. After careful thought, I decided to take a chance and venture into aquatic farming because the market was already guaranteed.”

A well-known local reggae artist, Moyo started by constructing his pond without telling his prospective customers.

“As a seasoned craft man, I built the pond from scratch using the material I bought from my own pocket. It only took two weeks for me to complete it and I filled it with water. Some of my friends thought I was out of mind but I continued my work because I knew what I was doing.”

He said he started off by buying 200 tilapia fish from an aquatic farmer in Polokwane who also lectured him on how to take good care of the fish.

“The fish were very small when I acquired them but I fed them with floating pellet fish food and they grew very fast. Interestingly, the fish multiplied to approximately 2,000 within a space of six months. I had to sell them in bulk so that the remaining ones can have the freedom of movement in the pond.”

Moyo says he is planning to build another big pond at his farm in the outskirts of Campbell Township.

“This is a very good business and I encourage my colleagues to try it. The market is readily available and all you have to do is to make sure that you take good care of the fish. I am prepared to share my knowledge with other prospective aquatic farmers so that we can get into this business in large numbers,” he said.

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