Prioritizing the generation of work and income, the Waters Family Home (CFA) teaching unit is making the Aquaculture Qualification Course available to the residents of the Bahia Southern Lowlands.Twenty-two youth and adults were selected to make up the first group.The proposal is to provide them with professional training as rural aquaculturists specialized in cultivating the tilapia and pirarucu species.Lasting slightly longer than six months, the training will address topics such as Fishing Technology, Cooperativism and Associativism, among others. Because they live in communities that are hard to access, the participants long for the opportunity to develop themselves and autonomously conduct their production activities.“I’m motivated to invest in my education, since I want to serve as an example as the owner of my own business,” said Carlúcio Santana, age 20, resident of the Lucas Dantas Settlement in Ituberá.

Start of classes
The inaugural class was held on June 18 in the auditorium of the Casa Jovem State High School, located in the municipality of Igrapiúna.On the occasion, members of the CFA institutional and educational team were present, together with representatives from the municipal departments of Igrapiúna and Ituberá and members of the Continental Water Aquaculturists’ Cooperative (COOPECON).“With the training of new aquaculturists, I believe that CFA will be able to directly support COOPECON’s work,” said Adriano Freire, Leader of the Strategic Aquaculture Cooperative.Marcelo Costa, the technical professional responsible for the Qualification Course in Aquaculture, added:“The Family Home is a milestone for aquaculture in the Southern Lowlands,” he said.

As a special guest, Gustavo Braga, Professor from the State University of Santa Cruz (UESC) , gave a lecture on the tilapia farming process, which includes reducing the fatte ningtime and, consequently, increasing the yield of the fishfillet.“The multiplication of knowledge in the aquaculture area is very important,” said Braga. This is what will make CFA possible for residents and their families,” he said . “Inaddition to generating income, my work in aquaculture will allow for the development of the place where I live,” said Simone Cruz, age 27, resident of Nilo Peçanha and one of the female students selected.

CFA and COOPECON are both part of the Bahia Southern Lowlands Environmental Protection Area Mosaic Program for Development and Growth Integrated with Sustainability (PDCIS), promoted by the Odebrecht Foundation and public and private partners, in addition to civil society.“The start of the training represents an important step toward the social inclusion of families and also toward promoting youth leadership in the region,” said Manoel Santos, Executive Director of CFA.“We are getting organized to complete the following phases:authorization with the State Board of Education to administer a technical course in aquaculture integrated with high school and the installation of our head office,” he said.