A new app is being developed to better educate tilapia fish farmers in Solomon Islands to help improve food security.
Mozambique tilapia caught near Honiara, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. This introduced species of fish is already present in many Solomon Islands waterway Photo: Theresa Bauer
Waikato Institute of Technology or WINTEC's International development manager, Nick Borthwick, says this small bony oily fish is a fresh water fish and a key protein source.
He said people will be able to get any information they need at their fingertips, instead of having to trawl through books and manuals.
Queries the app could answer would range from what the right level of algae is, to cooking and preserving tips, and even basic financial literacy.
Mr Borthwick said the offline app idea came from a fellow researcher.
"Our mission really is around building stronger communities with education and research.
"And so one of our researchers, Dr Debbie Care, she travelled to the Solomons and she saw this need there, and she realised that by using ICT or using information technology and using this app should help to really build a knowledge gap and so help communities who really need help with enhancing this fishing."
Mr Borthwick says it is a three year project funded by New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and in partnership with the Solomon Islands Association of Vocational and Rural Training Centres (SAVRTC).