Small-scale fish farms needed to boost supplies of crucial food

Africa needs to crank up its fish output by 20 percent over the next decade just to keep up with current consumption levels and ensure that the inexpensive source of protein remains available for the hundreds of millions of Africans that rely on it as a main part of their diet. That was the alarm sounded by experts ahead of a four-day "Fish For All" summit that kicked off in the Nigerian capital, Abuja on Monday. A study undertaken by the WorldFish Center showed that Africa, a continent where a third of the population is undernourished, was the only region in the world where fish supplies per capita are actually dropping. The Malaysian-based international research organisation said that whereas there were 9kg of fish for each African every year in the 1970s, that had fallen to 6.6 kg by the end of the 1990s. And just to maintain that reduced level of consumption for Africa's growing population over the next decade would mean a 20 percent hike in fish output, the study found. As well as providing 22 percent of the protein intake in the region, the fishing sector provides more than 10 million people with an income and is a leading export commodity for Africa, with an annual export value of US $2.7 billion. "There is a pressing need for strategic investments to better natural fish stocks management, develop aquaculture and enhance Africa's fish trade at every level," said Stephen Hall, the director-general of WorldFish Center. "An immediate investment of around US $60 million would kick-start a five-pronged strategy that can quickly improve the contribution of fish to African food security," he added. Richard Mkandawire a senior agriculture advisor to the New Partnership for Africa's Development, which has organised the Abuja summit, hopes the suggestions will be taken up. "For a relatively small investment, the international community has an opportunity to bring about significant improvement in the well-being and physical condition of millions in Africa," he said. One prong of the WorldFish Center's plan to avoid a fish crisis is to invest in aquaculture or small-scale fish farms. Once they have been set up, the farms require little labour and could be a nutritional and economic lifeline for millions of poor Africans. Aquaculture has yet to take off in Africa, although it provides almost 40 percent of fish production worldwide. But experts reckon that exploiting just five percent of Africa's aquaculture potential would be enough to meet the gap between supply and demand forecast in 2015. The low-intensity work could also be particularly helpful in improving the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS, experts say, because fish contain proteins, vitamins and minerals that fortify the body against secondary infections and increase the effectiveness of anti-retroviral drugs. A pilot project launched in Malawi added a fish pond to existing farms with impressive results for the people living there, according to Daniel Jamu, the WorldFish Center’s program director for southern Africa. “Their nutrition has improved because they are eating fish and they are using the income from selling excess catch to obtain medical attention, including HIV and AIDS care and medicines,” he said. Delegates at this week's Abuja summit, who include political leaders and fisheries and agriculture experts from 26 African countries, are expected to debate the proposals. NEPAD officials say they expect to issue an action plan for investment in support of fish-farming in Africa by the time the summit ends on Thursday.