A College Graduate’s Aquaculture Dream: Bringing Prosperity to His Hometown with Running Water Farming

Musa Kamara grew up in a small village nestled along the banks of the Niger River in Sierra Leone. As a child, he often watched his father and neighbors struggle to make a living from traditional fish farming—shallow ponds that depended entirely on rainwater, leading to frequent fish deaths during dry seasons and meager harvests even in good years. The sight of families going hungry because their crops and fish failed stayed with him, planting a seed of hope: one day, he would find a way to turn their misfortune around.

With the support of a scholarship, Musa left his village to study aquaculture at the University of Nairobi in Kenya, one of the top institutions for agricultural science in Africa. During his four years of study, he immersed himself in modern farming techniques, and it was there that he discovered the potential of recirculating running water aquaculture systems. Unlike traditional ponds, these systems filter and recycle water continuously, maintaining stable water quality and temperature, which significantly reduces fish mortality and increases yield. Musa was fascinated by the technology—he knew it was exactly what his hometown needed.

After graduating with honors, Musa turned down a well-paying job at a large aquaculture company in Nairobi. He packed his books, notes, and a small prototype of a running water system, and headed back to his village. At first, his return was met with doubt and skepticism. “You wasted years studying to come back and farm fish?” some neighbors joked. His father, though proud, worried that Musa’s “newfangled ideas” would fail and leave him discouraged.

Undeterred, Musa used his savings to build a small-scale running water farm behind his family’s house. He dug a series of connected tanks, installed simple filters made from local materials like sand and gravel, and used a small solar-powered pump to keep the water circulating. He started with tilapia, a fish that thrives in warm water and is popular in local markets. Within three months, his first harvest was ready—and it was double the size of a typical traditional pond harvest. The fish were healthier, larger, and sold quickly at the nearby market.

Word of Musa’s success spread quickly through the village. Curious neighbors began stopping by to watch his system in action, and Musa took every opportunity to teach them. He hosted weekly workshops, showing villagers how to build their own affordable running water systems using local materials, how to monitor water quality, and how to feed and care for the fish to maximize yield. He even lent money to families who couldn’t afford the initial setup, promising they could repay him once they had their first harvest.

Slowly but surely, more and more families in the village adopted Musa’s running water farming method. What was once a struggling village began to thrive. Villagers who had once struggled to put food on the table were now able to sell their surplus fish at markets in nearby towns, earning a steady income. Children who had dropped out of school to help their families could now go back to class, and new houses with electricity and clean water began to appear.

Five years later, Musa’s village has become a model for sustainable aquaculture in the region. His running water farming systems have been adopted by dozens of nearby villages, and Musa has even started a training program for young people from across the country, teaching them the skills they need to bring prosperity to their own hometowns. “I didn’t come back to be a hero,” Musa often says. “I came back to share what I learned, because I know that when we work together, no one has to go hungry. Our village’s success isn’t mine alone—it’s ours, and it’s just the beginning.”