Cost of Fuelwood for Fish Smoking around Kanji Lake and Economic Prospects of the Kanji Solar Tent Fish Dryer

Abstract

"Fish is a very nutritious source of protein but it is extremely perishable, hence the need for quick preservation. Many methods are employed in its preservation. Around Kainji Lake, the most popular method is by smoking wth fuel wood Kainji Lake generates over 13,375 metric tonnes of fish annually, which requires smoking This study shows that the demand for fuelwood to process fish is very high. Seventy-six fish processors in four major fishing communities around Kainji Lake were interviewed with questionnaires to determine the amount, cost and species of wood used for fish smoking. Results from the study show that about 396,250kg of wood costing Ni, 325,000 is used to smoke 189,883kg of fish worth N 19, 273,600 annually. The average fish processor consumes 16.45kg of fuel wood per day or 7.5m3 of forest wood compared to 0.46ni3 estimated for developing countries. The enormous cost of wood, its impact on the forest and the intensive labour involved to smoke fish gives the Kanji Solar Tent Dryer a high economic prospect as the technology requires no fuelwood, little labour and causes no damage to the environment, because it uses solar energy. The Kainji Solar Dryer is a simple and cheap technology that produces dried fish that can compliment smoked and the stockfish that requires millions of dollars of foreign exchange earnings to import."