New African agriculture program will focus on aquaculture and feed development

Participants from several West and Central African countries convened in Nigeria earlier this week to discuss approaches to boosting aquaculture production in the region under the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) program. Aquaculture is a key compact of TAAT. \"We are focusing on two main species, Tilapia and Catfish, and basically, we are looking at what is limiting us from reaching capacity within these two species and the key thing that we have identified is the fish feed.\"

August 9, 2018

Participants from several West and Central African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin and Cameroon, convened in Nigeria earlier this week to discuss approaches to boosting aquaculture production in the region under the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) program.

Funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB), TAAT is a knowledge- and innovation-based response to the need to scale up proven technologies across Africa. The program aims to support AfDB’s Feed Africa Strategy to eliminate the continent’s current high import of food through ‘commodity technology delivery compacts’ between implementing institutions, including WorldFish.

“Aquaculture is one of the key compacts of TAAT,\" said David Shearer, WorldFish Director, International Partnerships and Program Delivery. \"It has a special focus around self-sufficiency of inland fisheries, which is also a WorldFish objective. Our engagement with the TAAT program will enable us to achieve our goal of improving the diversity of fish in people’s diet.”

Specifically, the aquaculture compact aims to ensure access to improved fish seed by 80 percent of fish farmers, a 20 percent increase in aquaculture production, a 10-30 percent reduction in fish imports, improved household nutrition and employment creation for youth in the value chain.

Dr. Chrysantus Akem, Coordinator of TAAT, said that the meeting was necessary to see how fish production can be optimized in the region.

“Aquaculture happens to be one of those areas which is fish and which we import a lot. We have all the lands, we have all the waters where we can grow the inland fish, so aquaculture is trying to see how we can increase the production and the productivity of the fish that Africa consumes. We are focusing on two main species, Tilapia and Catfish, and basically, we are looking at what is limiting us from reaching capacity within these two species and the key thing that we have identified is the fish feed. 60-70 per cent of production cost for fish goes towards feed, so it makes sense for the aquaculture compact to link up with cassava, soybean and Maize which makes up the ingredients for which that feed is produced.\"