Karen Veverica

Karen has over 40 years experience in aquaculture production of warmwater fish; twenty years of which were in Africa. She has led several USAID-funded projects in fish farming development and research capacity building (Projet Pisciculture Nationale and AquaFish CRSP) in Rwanda (10 years), Aquafish CRSP in Kenya (3.5 years) and Fishery Investment for Sustainable Harvest in Uganda (3.5 years). She specializes in the field training of trainers and fish farmers in all aspects of fish production, pond construction, feed manufacture, hatchery management and overall commercialization of fish farming for small and medium-scale farmers.

She has conducted on-farm trials as a means of training both farmers and extension agents in all countries where she has had both long-term and short-term postings. She has written numerous short extension bulletins and training manuals for fish farmers (in English and in French) and continues to actively advise farmers and former students in Africa. She has worked short-term in ten countries in West and Central Africa, six countries in Southern Africa, six countries in Eastern Africa, and three in Asia. Recent consultancies (2012-15) have been for the FAO and World Bank in Uganda, Togo and Benin, and for the American Soybean Association (2009-2019) in Pakistan, Ghana and Liberia, Nigeria and Senegal. These involved value chain analysis and project design, evaluation of progress, advising on equipment needs and sources, feed manufacture and setting up on-farm feed trials.

Karen has recently retired from her job at Auburn University as Director of one of the world’s largest fisheries/aquaculture university-owned research stations in the world. She continues to design and assist with training programs for participants from all over the world but mostly concentrating on Africa. Asian experience includes advisory services and training programs in China, Pakistan and Cambodia. Karen likes to say that she may have gone to school in the US, but she was educated in Africa.