Page 30 - FAO Aquaculture News, May 2021 - No. 63

Webinar: Regional Review on Status and Trends in

Aquaculture Development in Sub-Saharan Africa – 2020

he article covers the status and trends in aquaculture to take off, and Abebe further called upon financing
Tdevelopment in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and the key institutions to rethink their approach.
messages presented during the webinar organized by the
Fisheries Department of FAO on 28 October 2020. A video Lewis Bangwe, Senior Agriculture Officer, African
recording of the webinar can be found here: Development Bank, Zambia, also recognized the weak flow
www.aquaculture2020.org/reviews. of financing opportunities in the aquaculture value chain,
but shared the example of a USD 50 million Investment Special Section | Aquaculture Reviews
Because aquaculture plays a significant role in sub-Saharan Aquaculture project. To better support the sector, the
Africa, its prioritization in many governmental policies and African Development Bank set up instruments to help
strategies has significantly increased and become linked address the lack of financing. Since several banks have
with increased public understanding and appreciation. criteria such as “scalable project sizes, preference for local
It is now considered a pathway to fulfil Agenda 2063 of the entrepreneurs or where local communities have an equity
Africa Union as well as the Sustainable Development Goals stake, projects with potential to be transformative in nature,
(SDGs). Many small, medium and large enterprises have or in other words, combining primary production with value
invested in the sector, which generates a variety of benefits addition component benefiting smallholders throughout
in both rural and urban areas, including food security, grower schemes”, Bangwe strongly recommended that
livelihoods, employment, foreign currency income, and public-private partnership projects with an agricultural
other socio-economic benefits. In the meantime, a review infrastructure component figure as part of the project.
commissioned by FAO identified some challenges, such as
tenure issues, cost of inputs, inadequate technologies, Leveraging aquaculture’s productive potential, in the
genetic and environmental integrity, biosecurity and context of the Sustainable Development Goals, can prove
access to financing that may impair the full expression of
its potential. INTRODUCTION AND KEYNOTE
Welcome remarks Matthias Halwart
Indeed, in spite of the attention and prioritization, Head, Aquaculture Branch, FAO
aquaculture growth in the SSA regions has decelerated Opening remarks Haile Gabriel Abebe
in recent years, with some exceptions, which indicates Assistant Director-General/ Regional
that technical and financial assistance from international Representative, FAO Regional Office for Africa
partners needs to continue. Actually, aquaculture’s Regional Review of Blessing Mapfumo
contribution to global production has dropped from 0.75 Aquaculture in Sub Saharan Executive Officer Africa, World Aquaculture
Society
Africa – Status, Trends and
to 0.62 percent between 2014 and 2018, although it has Options for the Way Forward
nevertheless grown significantly over the last decade, from EXPERT PANEL DISCUSSION
106 000 tonnes in 2000 to 709 000 tonnes in 2018, with a
farm-gate value of about USD 1.68 billion. Past and future trends in Michene Ntiba
Principal Secretary, State Department for
aquaculture develop-ment
and the role of regional Fisheries, Aquaculture and the Blue Economy,
Haile Gabriel Abebe, FAO Assistant Director-General and collaboration Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and
Regional Representative for Africa, noted that some of the Fisheries,Kenya
causes of the slower growth of aquaculture in the region Opportunities and main Stella William
have to do with the “occurrence of seaweed diseases and challenges for women and Professor, Obafemi Awolowo University/
Founder, Nigerian Women in Agricultural
youth employment in the
infections, difficulties in accessing finance and technologies, aquaculture sector Research for Development/ Vice President,
and increasing production costs”. He also remarked that Mundus Maris, Nigeria
aquaculture was perceived as riskier than other agriculture Technology and innovation Sloans Chimatiro
sectors and that some commercial banks subsequently for sustainable aqua-culture Former Fisheries Executive Director of
development
Southern African Development Community,
applied very high interest rates, up to a 35 percent interest Former WorldFish Centre Executive Director for
rate for a loan with a very short grace period for payment. Africa and African Union Inter-African Bureau
High interest rates pose a major challenge for the sector for Animal Resources, Malawi
Roles of government and Lewis Bangwe
private sector in developing Senior Agriculture Officer, African Development
Prepared by: the aquaculture industry Bank, Zambia
Ana Menezes Q&A AND CONCLUSION
E-mail: Ana.Menezes@fao.org Question and Answer session
Pierre Murekezi
E-mail: Pierre.Murekezi@fao.org Closing remarks Matthias Halwart
Head, Aquaculture Branch, FAO
FAO Fisheries Division, Rome, Italy
Moderator: Ana Menezes and Pierre Murekezi, Aquaculture Branch, FAO.

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