As part of the organization’s continued commitment to the aquaculture industries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) recently sponsored AFRAQ 2024, a World Aquaculture Organization’s annual exhibition in the continent and held a training workshop during the event in Hammamet, Tunisia that attracted participants from 11 countries.
Council staff and consultants based in Africa and Dirk Maier from Iowa State University were on hand to inform attendees about best practices in aquaculture production, technological advancements and market outlooks across the continent.
“Engagement from the African aquaculture sector has steadily grown as demand for high-quality seafood develops in the region,” said Mohamed Salah Bouthour, USGC deputy regional director for Africa. “The council’s promotion efforts, including opening a regional aqua training facility in Turkey, are focused on helping the industry sustainably grow through training in topics related to best practices, appropriate facilities and nutritional benefits from ingredients like distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS).”
The opening day of the conference focused on country-by-country updates on aquaculture infrastructure and demand and included presentations on ways to improve production through advanced technologies and proper sources of feed.
The second day, the group traveled to the National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia’s Regional Feed Training Center (RFTC) to see the latest research being done in the aquaculture industry. In the afternoon, attendees visited the 3rd Africa Aquaculture Conference (AFRAQ24), where stakeholders from the public and private sectors addressed upcoming challenges and opportunities for aquaculture in Africa.
The council held a special open session at the AFRAQ, welcoming participants from the Exhibition Center to increase understanding of the council’s activities and programs for the aquaculture industry in Africa and globally. USGC director of global sustainability Carlos Suárez presented virtually during the session on feed ingredients sustainability including the benefits of incorporating U.S. DDGS into fish diets.
“Attending producers left the program feeling more confident in growing their operations, traders were better equipped to efficiently procure feed and government officials were aware of the market dynamics of aquaculture and how it will affect their constituents,” Bouthour said. “The council’s EMEA regional office is already planning future engagements with aquaculture stakeholders in Africa as a result of the conference’s success and interest from participants in furthering their education in raising fish with high-protein U.S. feed grains.”
