Closed Banda oven
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Built structures · Floors, basins and masonry tanks
Below-ground fish-fermentation tank (Senegal)
A concrete fermentation tank installed below ground at a Senegalese fish-processing site was documented as an adaptation that emulated the older practice of burying fish during fermentation.
A buried concrete tank, not a buried fish pit
A Senegalese below-ground fermentation tank is a fixed concrete vessel installed at a fish-processing site. In fieldwork conducted in November and December 1991, FAO fish technologist Kofi Manso Essuman reported that most concrete tanks at the major Senegalese processing sites surveyed were buried in the ground to imitate an older practice in which fish, or fish packed in sacks, was buried during fermentation. The modern adaptation is a concrete tank below grade, not fish placed directly in an earthen pit.
The FAO report lists many other containers used in African fish processing, including above-ground concrete vats, wooden vats, drums, barrels, cooking pots, sacks and baskets. It also describes large rectangular concrete tanks with adjoining chambers, but does not say that the Senegalese buried examples had a particular shape, capacity, chamber count, lining or cover. This page records the below-ground installation as a distinct built structure, without turning the report into a construction plan.
Use and limits of the record
The tank is equipment for a processing site rather than a recipe. The same FAO survey documents different Senegalese products, including guedj, tambadiang and yeet, with distinct processes and containers; this record does not imply that every one was made in a buried concrete tank. A later FAO account describes guedj as a salted, fermented and dried fish product, and the existing guedj page covers that preparation separately.
The source establishes that buried concrete tanks were observed and explains the stated reason for burying them. It does not provide construction dimensions, excavation depth, foundations, drainage, reinforcement, or temperature-control details. Nor does it date when processors first adopted these tanks. A visual reconstruction should show only a concrete vessel below ground and the surrounding ground surface; the exact profile and dimensions remain unknown.
History
A 1991 FAO field survey reported that most concrete tanks at major Senegalese fish-processing sites were buried to simulate the older practice of burying fish during fermentation. The observation dates the documentation, not the origin of the adaptation.
Site
SettingFish-processing site in Senegal; the FAO report refers to major processing sites without naming a locality.
GroundConcrete fermentation tanks were observed below ground. The report does not describe soil, excavation or foundation.
ClimateNo climate-specific construction details are provided.
FootprintUnspecified for Senegalese buried tanks. The report gives capacities for tank types generally, not a buried Senegal-specific tank size.
NotesThe below-grade concrete vessel is an adaptation of a separate practice of burying fish or fish sacks. It should not be depicted as fish buried directly in soil.
A build is made where it stands: moving it means building it again.
How it is built
Materials
- Concrete — The FAO survey identifies concrete tanks at Senegalese processing sites; it does not specify a mix, reinforcement, lining or wall-making method.
- Provide a concrete fermentation tank at a fish-processing site. The cited survey records concrete tanks but gives no construction specification.
- Where this documented adaptation is used, place the tank below ground. The report says this arrangement simulated the older practice of burying fish during fermentation.
- Treat the buried tank as one vessel type among several; the survey does not establish a standard cover or tank layout.
Conditions
Temperature controlAmbient, monitored
Places
Senegal
Documented use · Country evidenceThe report says most concrete tanks at major Senegalese processing sites were buried; it does not identify those sites or claim every site used them.
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Sources
FAO Fisheries Technical Paper No. 329Construction · History · Geography
Fermented fish in Africa: A study on processing, marketing and consumption — 3.6 Types of fermentation tanksThe 1991 survey reported that most concrete tanks at major Senegalese fish-processing sites were buried to simulate the older method of burying fish during fermentation.
The report lists other tank/container types and gives general capacities, but no dimensions or construction procedure for the Senegalese buried tanks.
The survey distinguishes several Senegalese products and processes; this page concerns the tank adaptation, not a recipe.
Cited in: A buried concrete tank, not a buried fish pit; Use and limits of the record
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsContext
Biotechnologies at Work for Smallholders: Case Studies from Developing Countries in Crops, Livestock and FishThe FAO chapter describes guedj as a Senegalese and Gambian fermented fish product with salted fermentation followed by drying; the page links to the existing guedj preparation rather than repeating its method.
Cited in: Use and limits of the record