Regional Review On Aquaculture Development: Sub-Saharan Africa 2005

Regional Review On Aquaculture Development: Sub-Saharan Africa 2005 - By Paul G. Olin, University of California, Davis - The world population is on the rise, as is the demand for aquatic food products. Production from capture fisheries at the global level is levelling off and most of the main fishing areas have reached their maximum potential.

Foreword

The world population is on the rise, as is the demand for aquatic food products. Production from capture fisheries at the global level is levelling off and most of the main fishing areas have reached their maximum potential. Sustaining fish supplies from capture fisheries will, therefore, not be able to meet the growing global demand for aquatic food.

At present, the aquaculture sector contributes a little over 40 million tonnes (excluding aquatic plants) to the world aquatic food production. According to recent FAO predictions, in order to maintain the current level of per capita consumption at the minimum, global aquaculture production should reach 80 million tonnes by 2050. Aquaculture has great potential to meet this increasing demand for aquatic food in most regions of the world. However, in order to achieve this, the sector (and aqua-farmers) will face significant challenges.

A major task ahead for sustainable aquaculture production will be to develop approaches that will increase the contribution of aquaculture to the global food supply. These approaches must be realistic and achievable within the context of current social, economic, environmental and political circumstances. Accurate and timely information on the aquaculture sector is essential in order to evaluate the efficacy of these approaches and how they can be improved.

Under the FAO Fisheries Departments current work programme, the Inland Water Resources and Aquaculture Service (FIRI) of the Fishery Resources Division, using a wide-ranging consultative process, regularly conducts reviews on the status and trends in aquaculture development (FAO Fisheries Circular No. 886 Review of the State of World Aquaculture and FAO Fisheries Circular No. 942 Review of the State of World Inland Fisheries). The last review (both regional and global) was conducted in 1999/2000 and was published following the Global Conference on Aquaculture in the Third Millennium held in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2000 (NACA/FAO, 2001, Aquaculture in the Third Millennium). These reviews are seen as important milestones and the documents produced are recognized as significant reference materials for planning, implementing and managing responsible and sustainable aquaculture development worldwide.

As part of this continuing process and with the current objective of preparing a global aquaculture development status and trends review, FIRI had embarked on a series of activities. These are:

• National Aquaculture Sector Overviews NASOs in all major aquaculture producing countries in the world;
  
  

• five regional workshops to discuss the status and trends in aquaculture development in Asia and the Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Near East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa; and
  
  

• seven regional aquaculture development status and trends reviews in Asia and the Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Near East and North Africa, North America, sub-Saharan Africa and Western Europe.

This document presents the sub-Saharan Africa regional synthesis of all the information collected from the above activities.

Abstract

The FAO Fisheries Department conducts reviews of aquaculture development status and trends on a regular basis. This document is a result of such an activity conducted during 2005 and 2006. This review was made by synthesizing National Aquaculture Sector Overview (NASO) from 16 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

The 16 countries included, Cte dIvoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone in West Africa; Cameroon, the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Peoples Republic of Congo in Central Africa; Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Kenya in East Africa; and Angola, Mozambique, Madagascar, Zambia, Malawi in southern Africa. South Africa was also included. The production volume and value data have been derived from the latest FAO FISHSTAT Plus database.

As part of the review process, a regional expert workshop was conducted in Mombasa, Kenya, in 2005, to discuss the regional aquaculture development status and trends. The report of this expert workshop is also included in this document. The synopsis provided here summarizes the current status and recent advances that have been made by the aquaculture sector in the sub-Saharan Africa region during the last decade and the last five years in particular.

Contents

1. CHARACTERISTICS AND STRUCTURE OF THE SECTOR
   1. History and general overview
   2. The current status and the need for aquaculture
   3. Regional demographic and economic review
   4. Farming systems
2. PRODUCTION, SPECIES AND VALUES
   1. Production
   2. The species
3. ECONOMICS AND TRADE
   1. Markets
   2. Exports
   3. Access to capital
4. CONTRIBUTION TO FOOD SECURITY
   
5. ENVIRONMENT AND RESOURCES
   1. Contribution and impact of alien species
   2. Environments and land use
   3. Feed and feed resources
   4. Non-food aquaculture
6. LEGAL, INSTITUTIONAL AND MANAGEMENT ASPECTS
   1. Associations
   2. Government stations
   3. Research and training
7. SOCIAL IMPACTS, EMPLOYMENT AND POVERTY REDUCTION
   1. Extension
   2. Future projections
8. SUMMARY TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS
   1. Recommendations
9. REFERENCES

Further Information

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Summer 2006