Fishery resources are of great social and economic value to Africa but are considered by many to be largely unrecognised and not utilised to their full potential. Figures are often not considered to be very accurate but in general it can be said that about 200 million people – or about 30 % of the continent’s population - eat fish as their main source of animal protein and micro-nutrition. Fisheries also provide livelihoods for over 10 million Africans, many of whom are small-scale operators supplying food to local and sub-regional markets. Per capita consumption in sub-Saharan Africa is the lowest in all regions at 8.3 kg/year.
Aquaculture is probably the fastest growing food-producing sector and the latest figures for worldwide aquaculture show that it contributes 35 % of total fish production. This has been an astonishingly fast growth rate from only 16 % of total production 15 years ago. In sub-Saharan Africa aquaculture supplies around 3 % of fish production. African aquaculture is dominated by production of protein for human consumption and the contribution of aquaculture to total fisheries production varies sharply from country to country.
Although the promise of aquaculture for income, employment and food supply has been widely recognised and often promoted, the development of aquaculture in most parts of Africa over recent decades has been disappointingly slow, and has frustrated the attempts of internal development agencies, governments and private sector investors alike. However, with a greater recognition of the role of markets, and a rise in demand for aquaculture product, particularly around major urban centres, and for export purposes, the prospects for aquaculture appear to be changing, with encouraging growth in many locations. Given also that shortfalls from capture fisheries may become increasingly common, aquaculture production will have a steadily more important role in regional food supply.
A recent diagnostic (NEPAD, 2005) of the constraints faced in aquaculture development in the region to date, included the following factors:
- An expectation that available water and land resources could by themselves lead to natural exploitable potential and create a new option for rural people
- Little exploration of the social, institutional contexts in which people might engage in aquaculture, or of issues such as resource access, equity, and policy support
- Limited understanding of markets, market margins and real returns available to producers
- A historical emphasis on public-sector support, usually linked with the development of aquaculture extension capability in line agencies (eg Fisheries Departments)
- An emphasis on small-scale integrated aquaculture, in which freshwater fish farming in ponds is linked with a range of primarily family-supported mixed farming activities
- The use of state or parastatal agents for broodstock development and hatchery supply, with very variable and often disappointing results
- Poor strategic approaches to pooling knowledge in developing seed supply, fertility and feed inputs, environmental, aquatic health and food safety issues
- Limited knowledge of risk issues or of management responses to these
More recent experience has demonstrated that although integrated farming may have potential in specific contexts, most growth has occurred as small and larger scale private sector enterprises develop, and as focused skills and market linkages become established. The importance of location with respect to market centres has been confirmed, both for costs of input materials and for first hand sale price. There are also important trade implications at both regional and international levels, and for the latter, the broader questions of competitiveness and international investment. Ecolabelling issues may also be important. There remains some debate as to whether aquaculture will be a viable micro-scale activity, and it may have to be organised at least at community level to be maintained.
The preferability of a diversified sector is nonetheless widely recognised, and the role of aquaculture in livelihood support for fishing communities is a particular example where smaller scale operations may be important. Evidence from Asia is also that non-marketed, often small endemic aquatic species are very important for poorer groups, and similar implications might arise. At a practical level also, in many countries the sector still lacks systemic analysis and effectively costed development scenarios, based on realistic information on costs, returns and market potential, and it will be important to make these more widely available to allow better policy and investment targeting.
At a wider thematic level, though resources for aquaculture are generally good in many parts of the region, and access to basic raw materials for simple aquaculture feeds may not be a constraint, the implications of climate change on resource access and system stability will need to considered very seriously. To date, very little has been done on aquaculture and climate change in the region. Other important interactions include those with freshwater fisheries and with biodiversity management in key inland water bodies. The identification and management of pathogens affecting both wild and farmed stocks is also a potentially serious issue, and the region lacks significant capacity to address such risks. Broadly, an ecosystem security strategy will be vital for the sector.
For certain countries within Africa, particularly those with a developing aquaculture sector there is a lack of coordination between the multiple agencies that share regulatory responsibility, these countries have legislation in place that may not be in harmony with present and future status of the industry, and there is unclear and or conflicting priorities within the policy making and regulatory spheres. Governments can no longer rely on donor funds to support aquaculture and their own budgets have few reserves to provide for capacity building and infrastructure development. In addition the degradation of aquatic environments through human activity and the potential impact of climate change on marine and freshwater aquatic environments and marine and freshwater ecosystems are some of the factors hindering aquaculture production to achieving its potential.
It is clear that the development of the aquaculture sector is an important aspect of improving the livelihoods of millions of Africans. There is a need for improved governance and management systems, collaboration between different stakeholders and targeted investments in infrastructure and marketing to accelerate the growth of aquaculture. These needs fall in line with the thinking behind NEPAD’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) action plan for fisheries and aquaculture that promotes a pragmatic approach to developing the fishery sector. The action plan involves public, private and NGO sector interests, with good resource management and sound investment as key areas.
The following sources were used to compile this the FAO website www.FAO.org [1], NEPAD reports and the AfDB Fisheries Portfolio Review, 2008 NFDS.
