ACP-EU news briefs from the CTA: agriculture, development, trade _ 1st week February 2012

January saw a wide range of ACP-EU issues. Particularly, last week we knew the conclusions of the Council meeting on Agriculture and Fisheries. Ministers adopted a decision authoriszng the Commission to open negotiations with the aim of concluding a fisheries partnership agreement and protocol with the Republic of Mauritius.

 The protocol will define the fishing opportunities to be granted to EU vessels, the financial compensation, the framework for the implementation of the sectoral support and the clauses related to the duration and the revision of the protocol. Something similar has happened regarding Mozambique as ministers adopted a decision on the signing of the provisional application of a protocol setting out the fishing opportunities and financial contribution.

Stunning seemed to be the declarations of the Tanzanian Industry, Trade and Marketing Minister Cyril Chami, who shed  light on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). As EPA negotiations appear to be unfavorable for the economic growth of the East African member states, the Tanzanian government asks the European Commission for a review. Cyril Chami particularly stated that  "development cooperation should be an integral part of EPA to ensure that EAC partner states ably adjust to the new challenges and maximally exploit benefits offered under the agreement." 

He said that even though both parties had affirmed their recognition of development needs for the EAC block, some of the items on the agenda have appeared to be depressing to EAC members.

The world trade is witnessing another banana issue: The President of the newly-created African Pineapples and Bananas Association (APIBANA), Mr. George Kporye, has urged government to sign the EPA with the EU.

Kporye has stressed that the agreement guarantees a quota-free entry into the European market and he is thankful that the interim EPA that Ghana initialed on December 13, 2007, allows pineapple and banana producers access into the European market tariff-free.

“If Ghana does not sign the EPA, pineapple and banana producers will be subjected to tariffs, and we cannot afford that in the face of stiff competition”, Kporye  said.

Finally, we can address the most recent proposals of the European Commission (EC) regarding development: Following the statements of EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and the presentation of the communication "Trade, growth and development", the  EC has presented a series of proposals to make trade and development instruments work conjointly to ensure real poverty reduction across the world. The proposals notably aim at reinforcing the trade capacities of developing countries by making trade part of their development strategy. The role of trade is underlined one of the key drivers to support development, stimulate growth and to lift people out of poverty. Furthermore, today the EU calls for all developed economies to match its significant levels of market access to developing countries. 

According to the EC, to achieve this goal, developing countries' leadership must also face up to their responsibilities, undertaking domestic reforms to ensure that the poor do indeed benefit from trade-led growth.

CTA Brussels

Malawi faces declining fish stocks

Forty years ago, 60-year-old Willard Nyangu recalls returning to the shores of Lake Malawi after a night fishing with his canoe full of fish.

The lake is Africa's third largest with 1,000 cichlids endemic species of fish and its southern part is a Unesco world heritage site.

Today it is a very different story. Despite spending a whole night out on the lake, Nyangu returns to shore with only a handful of fish in his canoe.He says the rainfall pattern has been changing over the past 40 years and blames human activity, including deforestation, for the fluctuating water levels which affect the breeding cycles of fish.

The Malawian government estimates that the fishing industry keeps more than 300,000 Malawians in employment. Around 14 per cent of lakeshore communities survive through fishing, fish processing, marketing, boat and gear sales and repairs and other related industries.

Fishing is a key factor in the country's food security - contributing as much as 70 per cent of animal protein in rural and urban areas. However, the average fish catch declined from around 65,000 metric tonnes per year in the 1970s and 1980s to just 50,000 metric tonnes per year in the late 1990s. By 2003, fisheries experts - alarmed by the dwindling fish stocks - embarked on a 10-year strategic plan to restore fish numbers. The plan aims to restore depleted fish stocks to a sustainable level.

Three years ago, Bingu wa Mutharika, the Malawian president, pushed the issue to the fore by launching an initiative to restock lake waters.

Steve Donda, Malawi's deputy director of fisheries, acknowledges that the country's fish population is in decline but says factors other than climate change, including over-fishing and the destruction of breeding environments, may be responsible.

However, a report published in June by the aid agency Oxfam, Winds of change: Climate change, poverty and the environment in Malawi, notes that winds have become so strong in the country and rains so heavy that they regularly destroy houses, crops and boats.

"The main rainy season is becoming ever-more unpredictable. In general, over the last 40 years, fishermen and farmers say temperatures are hotter and the rains are arriving late and becoming more intense and concentrated, which reduces the length of the growing season and triggers both more droughts and more floods," observes Elvis Sukali, a Lilongwe-based communications officer for Oxfam.

His comments echo those of Elina Kululanga, a climate scientist with the Climate Change and Meteorological Service - a Malawian government department responsible for weather forecasting and predictions.

"Climate variations know no boundaries and these changes are coming in because of the displacement by human emissions in the atmosphere. These are causing abnormality in the way climate behaves hence affecting rainfall patterns. In Malawi, we would point to temperature changes as the main factor that is linked to climate change," Kululanga says.

Oxfam has recommended that the Malawian government compile an action list of measures it wants to implement in order to begin adapting to climate change.

Mutharika launched a nationwide plan called the National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA), with the aim of improving community resilience, restoring forests, improving agricultural production and preparedness for floods and droughts and boosting climate monitoring. NAPA will cost $22.43m which, to date, has not been forthcoming from the international community that initially urged Malawi to develop its plan.

Oxfam has blasted aid agencies for this, saying that the ongoing failure to fund the NAPAs drawn up by the world's least developed countries is unacceptable.
However, civil society groups in Malawi say the lack of donor funds must not become an excuse for inaction by the authorities, and are urging the government to do more even if the NAPAs remain unfunded.

The Malawi report coincided with Oxfam reports produced in South Africa and Uganda which revealed that the populations of these countries were facing similar challenges.

Although Africa contributes less than three per cent of global emissions, Oxfam South Africa observed that climate change poses a huge threat to development on the continent. Scientists predict that the production of many staple foods will be seriously affected, with the average maize yield in southern Africa set to decline by as much as 30 per cent in the coming years.

The number of people without adequate access to water on the continent is predicted to triple to 600 million by 2050.

In Uganda, a government climate analysis published in December 2007, noted that the wetter areas of the country around the Lake Victoria basin, in the east and northwest, are becoming wetter.

Meteorologists and farmers report the same phenomena: in most districts, recent years have witnessed an increasingly erratic onset and cessation of the rainfall seasons, and when the rain comes it is heavier and more violent.

Farmers and pastoralists say these changes are shortening the rainy season and that the net effect is less rain and more drought or as one farmer put it: "Less rain means less food."

However, some caution is needed in interpreting these statements.

In order to manage the situation, Malawi recently followed Angola, Swaziland and Zambia by launching two new disease resistant varieties of maize - ZM 309 and ZM 523 - developed for poor farmers in drought-prone areas with infertile soils, in order to help provide some food security.

The move is part of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project to give more poor farmers in sub-Saharan Africa maize varieties - a staple food among Africans - that have increased levels of drought tolerance.

Christine Mtambo, Malawi's chief agriculture officer who is responsible for crop production in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, says the new varieties suit the present climate conditions because they are drought tolerant and mature fast.

Perhaps, with climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in place, fishermen like Nyangu and subsistence farmers will be able to cope with the changing climate.

But Raphael Mweninguwe, a renowned Malawi environmental columnist for the weeky newspaper Sunday Times newspaper, warns that the changing climate is a wake-up call for the people to respond to changing weather conditions by employing measures that are environmentally friendly.

He argues that there should be more awareness of climate change issues among various stakeholders within the country and beyond Malawi's borders.

Al Jazeera

Mangrove destruction threatens Africa's food supply

Much of coastal Africa's food supply is being threatened by the destruction of swampy mangrove forests, NASA scientists warn.

The groves are being destroyed by pollution, real estate development, and deforestation necessary to sustain large-scale commercial shrimp farming, Lola Fatoyinbo, an environmental scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a release. The groves are essential breeding grounds for fish and shellfish in tropical African countries such as Mozambique and Madagascar, she said.

Satellite studies conducted by Fatoyinbo and her team show more than half of coastal Africa's mangrove forests have disappeared in the last 50 years, with a third of them disappearing in the last 20 years alone.

Mangrove forests are important for rice farming, fishing, timber, firewood and aqua culture in coastal Africa, with some nations increasingly depending on them for eco-tourism, she said.

The large, thick root systems of mangroves process large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere, protect against erosion and are a key defense against severe storms, Fatoyinbo said.

UPI

Fungal disease decimating fish in Zambezi River

by Joe DeCapua

An incurable fungal disease is killing large numbers of fish in the Zambezi River Valley. The UN Food and Agriculture organization says food security and the livelihoods of people in seven African countries could be seriously affected.

The disease is called Epizootic Ulcerative Syndrome, or EUS for short. It causes ugly lesions on fish and is spreading both upstream and downstream in the Zambezi.

FAO Senior Fishery Resources Officer Rohana Subasinghe says EUS is fairly new to Africa, first seen there in 2007. But other regions of the world have felt its effects for a long time.

"This is an old story in a new form because this disease has been devastating Asia for a long time… killing all sorts of fish, many species, devastating people who are living on fish," he says.

The disease has also been found in Australia and the United States but over the years may have been called by a number of different names.

Subasinghe says it appears the disease may first take hold in fish that are bruised or have skin damage. "Then, this particular spore of this particular pathogen can go inside…to grow within the musculature and also can go into the internal organs," he says.

EUS, with its "ulcerative lesions" can "decimate" fish populations.

"We have experienced in Asia mass mortalities of fish- hundreds and thousands of them dying over a period of months," says Subasinghe.

As many as 20 varieties of fish may be susceptible, including tilapia, a staple food in the Zambezi basin. Tilapia is very popular in other parts of the world as well and is often grown in fish farms.

FAO officials don't know for sure, but they think the disease may be triggered by environmental factors -- things like water temperature or the rainy season.

"In Africa, the rainy season begins around October, November. So we suspect to see another round of disease outbreak around October, November this year," he says.

As fish die off, the catch in subsequent years will be smaller. That increases food insecurity and raises the prospect of food aid.

"This has managed to almost completely eradicate certain species in the systems. I am a Sri Lankan. I have seen [it] in Sri Lanka. But it took four or five years to see these fish coming back in the rivers," he says.

EUS is very difficult to control in the wild, but it can be controlled in fish farms. The FAO says many fishers in the Zambezi River Valley may need to diversify into fish farming to maintain their livelihoods.

VOA

’Food colonialism’ is increasing hunger in Africa

by Michael Davies-Venn

The European Union is coercing some West African governments into allowing European-based fishing companies to deplete West Africa’s fishing stocks in a new "food colonialism" that is now taking place between rich and poor countries around the world, according to British author George Monbiot.

"We have a particularly stark example of this in Europe, where since the 1960’s fishermen from the European Union have been going down to West Africa and plundering the fish stocks there, and this has disastrous impacts on the people of West African countries," Monbiot said at a recent engagement on world hunger at the University of Alberta in Canada.

When the Senegalese government banned European fishing boats in its territorial waters, French and Spanish fishing companies, in particular, resorted to new tricks by using Senegalese boats, hiring subcontractors and claiming national status.

"Now the European Union has told the government of Senegal and some of its neighbors that they must allow this to continue to happen," Monbiot stated. "In fact they must allow these people to register as if they were nationally-owned companies, if this economic partnership agreement with them is to go ahead and they have any economic benefits at all dealing with the European Union. ... So it’s straightforward food colonialism, except in this case it’s carried out not with gun boats at sea ports, it’s carried out by lawyers and checkbooks."

The EU has strict fishing policies, which punish individuals and companies by levying huge fines, limit the catch by member countries, and regulate fishing methods. But it would appear the EU has a different set of policies for West African governments.

According to Monbiot: "These governments are coming under an immense amount of pressure to continue, more or less, giving up their own fish stock and starving their own people, so that in Europe we don’t have to confront our fishing lobbies which are very powerful political lobbies, or run out of fish because we’ve so exploited our own stocks that they’re collapsing left, right and center. ... We’re snatching food out of the mouth of the poor in order not to deal with our own consumption."

Monbiot, who was participating in a series of events organized to highlight the plight of starvation around the world, also said certain Middle Eastern countries have been making arrangements with some African nations that would ensure food security for their nationals.

"The very rich oil states have been striking secret bilateral treaties with some African nations such as Sudan and Ethiopia where they’ve in effect leased very large areas of land, farms of a hundred thousand acres or more, over which they now have exclusive control, so that come what may, whether or not there’s famine in these countries, they would still be able to export food to their own countries," he said. "It’s another very brutal form of food colonialism."

A United Nations Global 500 Award recipient for outstanding environmental achievement, Monbiot suggested that claims of insufficient food in the world are wrong.

"A roughly similar number of people suffer from obesity as those from malnutrition," he said. "We produced more food about the same time that we saw a global food crunch of a kind bigger than any we’ve seen in 25 years hitting communities around the world."

France’s Lappe Moore, co-founder of Food First, also known as the Institute for Food Development Policy, agreed with that view.

"The scarcity claim lacks credibility," he said. "In the last few years, food production has kept well ahead of population growth. The crisis has nothing to do with the real capacity of the Earth to feed us, but has everything to do with our mystified notion of the market and our disempowerment to make an economy that’s democratically accountable."

The UN reported that soaring food prices pushed 963 million people into hunger last December, which is more than the combined population of the United States, Canada and the European Union.

"The harvest of the preceding year following the global recession was actually the world’s record highest - 2.1 billion tons of grain, a five percent increase on any previous annual yield," Monbiot said. "But only one billion of that went to feeding human beings. Where did the rest go?"

According to Lappe and Monbiot, some of that food which was produced during the same period that the world was experiencing a "food crunch" was used to produce biofuels.

"That was a crime against humanity," Monbiot posited. "And the continuing use of grain to turn into fuel is an ongoing crime against humanity, which anyone with humanitarian instincts should oppose as vigorously as possible."

But using food to feed cars does not come close to an even greater apparent misuse of food.

"By far the greatest alternative use of what could otherwise be food was something else, something which accounts for 14 times the total global food deficit, which took up in total 760 million tons of grain last year, wasn’t food it was feed," Monbiot said. "The rate of growth among livestock is faster than that of humans. The food used to raise livestock in about 30 years will out-strip the amount of grain used to feed human beings. This is a humanitarian and environmental disaster."

Food consumption, according ot Monbiot, especially in North America where on average a person eats 4 lbs of meat a week, is unsustainable. "And in consuming these levels of food we’re snatching food out of the mouth of the poor," he said. "We’re in effect killing people by eating meat, because we’re causing people to suffer from malnutrition, and malnutrition kills."

Starvation in developing countries was made worse, according to Lappe, when investors in the United States pulled money out of the sub-prime mortgage crisis to invest in commodities, contributing to the over 50 percent increase in food prices between 2007 and 2008.

"In 2007 Archer Daniels made a 65 percent increase in its profits," he said. "The biggest part of that was from its financial division which has nothing to do necessarily with its trading of commodities, but rather the speculative game it was playing through its financial division on the volatility of food prices."

Lappe, whose book "Diet for a Small Planet" has sold over three million copies worldwide, said the requirements on poorer countries to reduce spending on agriculture, liberalize trade and allow "unfettered imports," while "we in the global north did not follow the same," is also a source for starvation.

"So what we see, from the Philippines to Haiti and elsewhere, are countries that were once largely food self-sufficient - the Philippines, for example, which was a major rice producer is now the leading importer of rice," he said.

Monbiot suggested a direct connection between "feast and famine," arguing that "our feasts cause other peoples’ starvation." He continued that, "a sweeping and radical transformation of our economies, technologies, politics and the ways in which we live" is needed to save the 25,000 people who the UN has indicated die daily from hunger and related causes.

Modern Ghana

Over-fishing to cost Uganda $60 million in lost export earnings

Uganda's fisheries sector is projected to lose up to $60m this year because of overfishing and illegal catching of the nation's second highest export earner, an official has said.

Fish stocks in Uganda have declined sharply in recent years. Fish export revenues in 2007 dropped by $19.4m from the previous year to $117.3m.

"Last year we lost up to $20m and our projections are that it is likely to triple to $60m by the end of this year," said Wilson Waiswa Mwanja, head of the fisheries and resources department.

Fishing is Uganda's second largest export earner after coffee. The country boasts four major lakes; Lake Victoria, the largest shared with Kenya and Tanzania, Lake Albert, Lake George and Lake Kyoga.

Other exports in this relatively stable economy include coffee, cotton, flowers, fruits and vegetables, honey and human capital.

New Vision

Overfishing in Uganda to cause government to partially close off lakes

The Ugandan government plans to close portions of lakes to allow restocking of fish amidst increasing depletion of the resource.

The Minister of State for Fisheries, Mr Fred Mukisa, said Lakes Kyoga, Albert, Edward, and Victoria will be affected. He said the closure would be gradual and in consultation with the affected fishing community.

Mukisha said the government was concerned about declining fish stocks and fish poisoning.He said fish exports have declined from US$150 million to less than US$ 100 million in the last three years.

The Independent

Fish supply falls behind demand in Nigeria; imports out-compete domestic fisheries

At an annual increase of 10 percent, local production of cat fish in Nigeria cannot be said to be stunted. But in the last eight years that cat fish farming has maintained this steady growth, many people have wondered why it does not force down its price in the market.

A recent market survey shows a kilogram of fresh cat fish selling for N500. This is almost three times the price of 'Titus,' an imported variety of fish in the market. Compared to what it has been in the last three years, the price of the local variety has remained static, while there are indications that the imported options like Titus, mackerel, croaker and so on might continue to decrease in price.

For Foluke Omotayo Areola, president, Fishery Society of Nigeria, FISON, this is not a happy development. As well as being the henchman of the fishers' society, Areola is an assistant director at the Federal Department of Fisheries, FDF, an agency under the Ministry of Agriculture. She said that in the last few years, both government and FISON have been quite busy in trying to bring down the cost of fish, by boosting local production of cat fish in the country from its current 80, 000 metric tons per annum to five times the current capacity.

“The demand far outstrips the supply,” she said, adding that owing to many forces from instability in the local economy and import pressure, their target has been quite difficult to meet.

Fish accounts for 40 percent of protein intake in the country. Even at that, local fish farms account for 20 percent of total local production of fish in the country. The picture is grimmer still. Current fish demand in the country is put at 1.5 million metric tons per annum. Of the sum, 1.1 million metric tons are imported, thereby resulting in the country incurring a bill in excess of $241 million annually.

Policy experts believe that such money if put into fish production in the country would greatly stimulate the economy. This has been the reason why government, especially at federal and state levels have placed premium on growing local fish farms. Decidedly, the choice has been cat fish on account of its nativity to the country. In the last eight years, government effort might well have yielded success. From a previous 30, 000 metric tons annual production of cat fish, fish farmers in the country now gross a total of 80,000 metric tons per annum. But this is hardly enough considering the total demand in the country.

Fish farmers in the country groan that the cost of producing cat fish in the country still remains high. Chiefly, standard fish feed, despite efforts by several agencies to have them produced locally, have remained largely elusive. In the last few years, FISON says it has partnered with the European Union to set up fish millers in the country with little success.

“Aside from Chi Farms, there are only a few fish millers in the country without much success due to the huge capital outlay involved in fish feed milling,” said Areola. For the growing need of farmers, Chi might not be able to cater for the demand of fish feed in the country. Largely, fish farmers use locally sourced alternatives to groom their fishes. But in the long run, the alternative proves inadequate. Farmers say that the imported variety float in the ponds allowing fishes to see the food. This is not so with the local ones which sink to the bottom of the pool, denying fishes of their meal.

Business Eye

What can be done to save Egypt’s commercial fishing sector?

By Ali El Bahnasawy

Yields are decreasing for Egypt's fishermen.

In the beginning, no one knew why fewer and fewer fish were being caught. But now, a few years later, everyone is asking the same question: How can the fisherman continue to survive when there are simply no more fish?

Overfishing is the term used to describe the decline in an adult fish population so dramatic that there are not enough fish to breed and restock the population. While the problem varies from one place to another, and is more pronounced for certain types of fish like tuna and sardines, the over-exploitation of fish in any location affects the ecosystem of fisheries across the globe.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) states that 52% of world fisheries are fully-exploited — any more fishing in those areas would severely damage the ecosystem. In fact, 17% of those fisheries are already over-exploited. The main reason behind the overfishing is the size of the world’s fishing fleet, which at four million vessels is two to three times as big as required, according to the FAO. The FAO has urged countries to impose bans on catching certain species and introduced off-season periods in some areas.

The overfishing problem is a serious one for Egypt’s fishing industry. In fact, the Mediterranean Sea, which forms a crucial part of the local industry, is considered one of the regions where fish stocks are in greatest need of recovery, according to FAO studies.

Saleh Ismaeil, Red Sea regional director at the Egyptian Agency for Developing Fishing Resources (EADFR), regrets the opportunity Egypt missed to protect its seas earlier. “Overfishing affected the natural fisheries remarkably,” says Ismaeil. “There was a real necessity to impose the off-season period, as we’re doing now.”

Even with nearly 14 million acres (surface area) of salt and fresh water in its territory, Egypt is facing a remarkable decline in fish production from its natural fisheries (as opposed to man-made fish farms) as a result of overfishing during the last decade.

This decline is putting more than 90,000 fishermen, 4,490 fishing vessels and over 35,000 other fishing boats into what is perhaps the worst period of the industry’s history. As a result, many fishermen are turning away from the sea and taking their chances with inland aquaculture, or freshwater fish farming, a sector of the fishing industry that has recently gained momentum.

Egypt’s annual consumption of fish reached approximately 1.2 million tons per annum in 2006. While certainly a large number, at 13.67 kilograms consumed per person, it is actually less than the international average of 14 kilograms. This global average is expected to increase in low-income countries that have access to natural fisheries: China, for example, consumed 28.4 kilograms per capita in 2004, a number that is expected to grow.

The low consumption levels in Egypt are a result of inadequate production: 971,000 tons, or LE 9.3 billion worth of fish, was processed in 2006 — a very small number compared to the world’s total fish production, which reached nearly 142 million tons the same year. In the global fishing industry, natural fisheries are considered the number one source of fish. In Egypt, however, the yield from natural fisheries is declining.

The Red Sea’s fish production decreased from 82,400 tons per annum (TPA) in 1999 to 46,940 TPA in 2006. The Mediterranean saw substantial declines as well; production went from 89,943 TPA to 72,666 TPA over the same period, with the share of saltwater fishing accounting for a minimal 12.32% of total fish production in Egypt. Even natural protectorates like Lake El-Burullus, which occupies nearly 460 square kilometers, did not escape the dramatic negative trend in production: The annual catch at the lake fell from its peak in 2002 of 59,785 tons to 52,956 tons in 2006.

This decrease in domestic production has resulted in a roller-coaster ride for fish imports. In 2001, imports mushroomed to 261,430 TPA, before falling to 207,564 TPA in 2006.

“We sell imported Chinese and Thai fish and shrimps now; the Egyptian products are not enough,” says Mahmoud Ashour, sitting on a high stool and writing the revenue of the day’s selling in a huge logbook. Ashour, who manages the finances of Monir Abu-Ghaleb, one of the biggest retailers of fresh seafood in Egypt, has spent the last twenty-five years of his life working in the industry. These days are some of the worst for the fishing sector in Egypt, he says with regret: “The craft is dying now.”

In 2006, Egypt imported 207,564 tons of fish from countries like Indonesia, China and Thailand, at a cost of nearly LE 593 million. Compare this to 2005, when Egypt spent only LE 523 million importing 188,524 tons of mostly shrimp and squid, products that have almost disappeared from Egypt’s fisheries.

From Ashour’s point of view, the main reason behind overfishing is the fact that fishermen sometimes use illegal methods. “For a while, fishermen used insect powder for fishing,” Ashour says. “They throw it on the water and five minutes later the fish float dead to the surface. Back then, when we entered the market, the scent of the powder was very strong in the air.”

Not only was poison used to catch fish, but nets called el-shabah (the phantom), came into use. Because these nets have very narrow holes in the mesh, they collect everything from the sea floor, including fingerlings (baby fish). This has resulted in lower production over recent years: Catches from natural fisheries this year are at their lowest levels since 1999.

This scarcity of supply has pushed prices up; fish that used to be sold for LE 4 three years ago are now sold for double, while fish previously sold for LE 11 are now sold for LE 17.

Ashour, however, thinks that imported fish both looks better and is cheaper. “If we sell local shrimp for LE 70 per kilogram, the imported ones will be sold for only LE 55 and what is important is that people like it,” he says. Ashour believes that only an expert can distinguish the difference in taste between local fish and imported frozen fish collected months before.

Prices of the vessels are another problem fishing ship owners face today. As the boats travel long distances, the price of diesel, which has also recently increased, matters as well. In a day, a medium size (28-meter) ship will consume 10 to 15 barrels of fuel, topping 400 barrels in a regular one-month trip.

“One barrel costs LE 220. The state should subsidize our diesel. When I was working in Europe, the state did that for fishermen,” says Abdouh,a ship owner, expressing his frustration.

A month-long fishing trip using trawling techniques will cost Abdouh a staggering LE 150,000 just for food and fuel supplies. He does not have this amount of money on hand, so he borrows the money from one of the retailers at Al-Obour fish market in Cairo. By lending ship owners the money, Al-Obour retailers gain the exclusive right to sell the ships’ catches to fish markets and small shops all over the country. “I stand beside the retailer who starts an auction on my fish,” says Abdouh. “At the end I take the money and the retailer takes 8% of the total selling amount.” It certainly sounds like a good business situation for all, but the truth is another matter.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea states that every country has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12nautical miles or 22 kilometers from its shore. The law comes with a few exceptions for countries such as Somalia, one of the few territories that has an exclusive economic zone extending 370.5 kilometers from its shoreline, where only Somali ships are allowed to fish.

Forced by the need to repay their debts, however, Egyptian ships are violating this exclusivity and breaking international law.

Illegal fishing is giving Egyptian ships an unwanted reputation, resulting in states like Eritrea and Yemen arresting Egyptian ships that are only passing through the waters of the Horn of Africa. “Many sailors have been shot by the coast guard in these countries, but what can we do? We have to pay the retailers,” says Abdouh.

At present, out of the entire official Egyptian fleet of 4,490 powered boats, only 10 permits to fish overseas are awarded annually, according to Ismaeil. But the number of permits available is something the EADFR cannot control, as it is dependent on agreements negotiated between the Ministry of Agriculture and other countries.

China, the world’s biggest producer of fish — with 47.5 million tons in 2005 and nearly 13 million fishermen — found a different solution to the problem of overfishing. The country introduced a national program in 2001, focusing on preparing fishermen for other jobs. By training fishermen for industrial jobs and jobs in aquaculture management, China managed to reduce the number of fishermen by 13% between 2001 and 2004. Other countries with large numbers of fishermen like Vietnam and India have also started similar programs.

In Egypt, where the economic reform program focuses heavily on industrial sector jobs, copying the Chinese model certainly seems like a good idea. Mutual assistance from foreign aid programs and the government could save tens of thousands of families from increased dependence on fishing, while at the same time preserving fish populations from overexploitation. However, there is no sign the government has plans to begin a similar program soon.

Tracing its origins to China some 4,500 years ago, aquaculture, or aquafarming, is the process of raising salt or freshwater fish in containers or ponds. Having only begun its efforts in this field in the early 1980s, aquaculture is now the main source of fish production in Egypt, representing 61.2% of total production in 2006.

Growing rapidly, production in the aquaculture sector jumped from 56,599 TPA in 1997 to 498,885 TPA in 2006. By identifying districts that are close to fresh water sources and have high soil salinity that impairs agricultural activity, fish farming was a win-win solution for landowners.

According to EADFR reports, a typical aquaculture project should be no less than five acres to be profitable, with a tank size of at least two acres and a maximum of ten acres. The depth of any tank should be 1.85 meters at its center.

In an industry that is reaching crisis point as a result of overfishing in natural fisheries, aquaculture seems to be the most viable option for the sector’s success in the future. However, private sector investors will ultimately need to step into the industry and help it transform from one currently dominated by small-scale producers to one characterized by larger enterprises. Larger investments would give the industry the needed structure and access to funding necessary to modernize, grow production and improve productivity.

The private sector may also consider what is currently a missed opportunity in the industry — farming the sea, or what is known as mariculture. This involves using cages in the sea or tanks to farm saltwater fish species as well as shellfish. As the natural stocks of specific species decline, mariculture farms are more conducive to farming expensive species like shrimp, crab and lobster. This type of production of high-end, high-cost species has proved successful in countries such as China, Thailand, the US and Japan.

There are certainly risks and higher costs involved in mariculture, but Ismaeil believes it is worth the attention of the private sector. “Now we need to fish farm the sea,” he says. “This will require a huge investment and more advanced technology than in fresh water, but it will pay back well.”

The government should ultimately take a more active role in promoting the industry, by identifying missed opportunities and encouraging investment. One venture in this respect might include quantifying available fishing locations along coastal regions and allocating them for private investment, as is done with land-based development projects. The government could also provide training and job-matching services for investors, helping thousands of fishermen move from the sector to other industries. This would provide labor for some of the economy’s faster-growing sectors, while alleviating pressure on the already exploited natural fisheries.

One of the government’s most important tasks, however, would be the more stringent enforcement of restrictions on overfishing. This would decrease the country’s reliance on fish imports over the short and long-term through allowing fish populations to recover. This is not only a question of economic gains: It is in no one’s interest to let the seas become a wasteland. bt

Business Today Egypt

High fish demand in DRCongo creates aquaculture opportunities

Give a woman a fish, she will eat for a day. Teach a woman to grow her own fish, and she may soon have so many that theft becomes a problem.

The issue of thieves stalking the handful of fish farms coming back to life in the Congo speaks volumes about the sheer demand for fish as an essential source of protein in the former Belgian colony.

Yet the problem is relative – and containable. Here in Kipushi, near the headwaters of the mighty Congo River, the tidy series of rearing ponds dug and now run by 150 women – mostly widows, resettled refugees and former combatants of the Congolese civil war – lie an inconvenient 30 kilometres from the hungry city of Lubumbashi. Hence, no thieves here, and the women are making a tidy, sustainable profit on the delicious and nourishing 600-gram tilapia they raise from fry, selling their stock to local villagers.

A different story is told in the vast, lush market garden of Quartier Congo on Lubumbashi's outskirts, where so many fish were stolen that the seven farm associations representing smallholders simply abandoned their aquaculture ponds, deciding instead to concentrate on the thriving vegetable beds that have doubled farm incomes in the past four years, lifting the neighbourhood just above the poverty line.

Location, location, location, therefore, will be a crucial factor in whether fish farming will make a splash as part of a green revolution Congolese agronomists hope to bring to the war-torn central African country.

It matters because the Congo, like all of sub-Saharan Africa, is crazy for fish. Last February alone, the eastern province of Katanga imported 2,250 tonnes, mostly dried, smoked or salt-cured.

Perversely, some of that imported fish actually originates in Congo: it's netted in Lake Tanganyika and then shipped to Zambia before coming back through the borders at the bustling border city of Lubumbashi. The circuitous route says much about the state of Congolese infrastructure, where a simple 100-kilometre journey can take up to seven hours on roads barely worthy of the name.

The need for the Congo to more than dabble in fish farming is all the more acute, given doubts about the long-term viability of Lake Tanganyika's fishery. It was all but destroyed during the Congolese war, but now nearly 1,200 fishers are back on the lake, thanks to a UN Food and Agriculture Organization program that has replaced stolen nets and tackle. Some are line-fishing with dugout canoes; others are working in two-boat teams by lamplight to net bigger hauls overnight. Anecdotally, some say the stocks are not what they used to be.

The books of one of the seven fishing co-ops show a haul of 257 tonnes in 1993 dropping to 3.24 tonnes in 2003, a figure doubtlessly impacted by war, which saw some fishers drown in a bid to flee to neighbouring Tanzania.

Today, nobody knows the stock levels, says Adelard Mambo, 43, president of Kalemie's MPK fishing association. "There is no state regulation, no enforcement. We fish freely, yet we are seeing fewer fish."

Despite its lofty title, the provincial Centre for Aquaculture Research at Lubumbashi is actually just a small cluster of ponds tucked behind a tiger enclosure at the city zoo. There, head researcher Jules Lwamba leads a team of three working to supply the region's rearing ponds with the best possible local stock, focusing on tilapia and several variations of African catfish.

"We would like to follow the path of Asia, where they successfully combine rice paddies with fishing in dual-use projects," says Lwamba. "But we are so far behind. Before the war we had 8,000 fishponds, but at least half were abandoned. The goal of this centre is to restore them all and then keep going."

The problem is not demand, nor even technology. It is simply a question of building up capacity to help people help themselves – arguably the most common refrain heard today in eastern Congo.

"Everyone here wants fish," notes Lwamba. "We have to guard this place by night, otherwise people would steal them."

The Star

Tanzanian fish exports to Germany decline

One big concern to the recent Tanzania business and investment mission to Germany must have been the slump in fish export earnings from the world's third largest economy.

Apart from the Nile Perch, Tanzania's other major export to Germany is coffee, the top export last year, fetching $46.7million compared to $23.9 million in 2006.

The 55-member delegation led by Zanzibar President Abeid Karume must have tried to find out why foreign exchange earnings dropped by $46 million last year.

This information is important as it will enable exporters and the country as a whole to arrest an alarming trend, which saw export earnings drop from $61million to $15million from 2006 to 2007.

With the two countries having a long history of commercial ties since German colonialism, Tanzania finds it hard to lose business and trade opportunities in the lucrative European market.

Germany is the EU's fourth largest importer of fresh and frozen Nile Perch fillets from the EAC partner states after The Netherlands, Belgium and Austria.

The slump in Tanzania's fish export earnings from Germany stems from increased fish fillet exports from Vietnam, which has in recent years established itself as a formidable supplier to the European Union (EU) market.

Statistics from the Customs and Excise Duty Department of the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) show that trade between the two countries dropped by $9.61 million last year. largely due to the drop in fish export earnings.

Last year, the two countries exchanged goods worth $240 million compared to $249.61 million the previous year, with the trade balance in favour of Germany.

Whereas its exports to Tanzania were $142.1 million in 2007, the imports value was $97.9 million compared to $138.7 million exports and $110.91 million imports in 2006 respectively.

Fish has for a long time been Tanzania's major food export to Germany and the EU market. In 2005, fish exports to the EU were valued at $156 million, about 36 per cent of the total value of exports to the EU.

A report released by the Vietnamese customs department in November says that competition for the EU market with East Africa has stiffened in recent years. Of course, Vietnam is winning the race.

The Lake Victoria Fish Processors Association also attributes Tanzania's losing out to Vietnam to pricing. One of its members told BusinessWeek that a kilogramme of fish from Tanzania costs about $1 more than that from Vietnam.

Tanzania Investment Centre executive director Emmanuel ole Naiko says that Germany is also among the Top 10 countries with huge investments in Tanzania. Between 1990 and 2007, there were 112 investment projects with German interests in the country valued at $205 million.

Tanzania is also the largest beneficiary of German aid in sub-Saharan Africa, with bilateral development assistance amounting to euro 1.8 billion euros (about Sh3.062 trillion) during the last four decades.

allafrica.com

Europe takes Africa’s fish, and migrants follow

Ale Nodye, the son and grandson of fishermen in this northern Senegalese village, said that for the past six years he netted barely enough fish to buy fuel for his boat. So he jumped at the chance for a new beginning. He volunteered to captain a wooden canoe full of 87 Africans to the Canary Islands in the hopes of making their way illegally to Europe.

The 2006 voyage ended badly. He and his passengers were arrested and deported. His cousin died on a similar mission not long afterward. Nonetheless, Mr. Nodye, 27, said he intended to try again. “I could be a fisherman there,” he said. “Life is better there. There are no fish in the sea here anymore.”

Many scientists agree. A vast flotilla of industrial trawlers from the European Union, China, Russia and elsewhere, together with an abundance of local boats, have so thoroughly scoured northwest Africa’s ocean floor that major fish populations are collapsing.

That has crippled coastal economies and added to the surge of illegal migrants who brave the high seas in wooden pirogues hoping to reach Europe. While reasons for immigration are as varied as fish species, Europe’s lure has clearly intensified as northwest Africa’s fish population has dwindled.

Last year roughly 31,000 Africans tried to reach the Canary Islands, a prime transit point to Europe, in more than 900 boats. About 6,000 died or disappeared, according to one estimate cited by the United Nations.

The region’s governments bear much of the blame for their fisheries’ decline. Many have allowed a desire for money from foreign fleets to override concern about the long-term health of their fisheries. Illegal fishermen are notoriously common; efforts to control fishing, rare.

But in the view of West African fishermen, Europe is having its fish and eating them, too. Their own waters largely fished out, European nations have steered their heavily subsidized fleets to Africa.

European Union officials insist that their bloc, which has negotiated fishing deals with Africa since 1979, is a scapegoat for Africa’s management failures and the misdeeds of other foreign fleets. They argue that African officials oversell fishing rights, inflate potential catches and allow pirate vessels and local boats free rein in breeding grounds.

Pierre Chavance, a scientist with the French Institute for Research and Development, said both foreign fleets and African governments allowed financial considerations to trump concerns for fish or local fishermen. “One side has a big interest to sell, and the other side has a big interest to buy,” he said. “The negotiations are based upon what people want to hear, not the reality.”

In Mauritania, lobsters vanished years ago. The catch of octopus — now the most valuable species — is four-fifths of what it should be if it were not overexploited. A 2002 report by the European Commission found that the most marketable fish species off the coast of Senegal were close to collapse — essentially sliding toward extinction.

“The sea is being emptied,” said Moctar Ba, a consultant who once led scientific research programs for Mauritania and West Africa.

In a region where at least 200,000 people depend on the sea for their livelihoods, local investments in fishing industries are drying up with the fish stocks. In Guinea-Bissau, fishermen who were buying more boats less than a decade ago now complain they are in debt and looking to get out of the business.

“Before, my whole family could live on what we caught in one pirogue,” said Niadye Diouf, 28, whose Senegalese family sold their pirogue for $500 to pay for an illegal — and ultimately unsuccessful — voyage to Spain. “Now even five pirogues would not be enough.”

Fishermen like Mr. Diouf argue that Africans should have first priority in their own waters — an idea enshrined in a 1994 United Nations treaty on the seas that acknowledges the right of local governments to sell foreigners fishing rights only to their surplus stocks. But that rule has been repeatedly violated along northwest Africa’s nearly 2,000-mile coast.

Studies dating to 1991 indicated that Senegal’s fishery was in trouble. In 2002, a scientific report commissioned by the European Union stated that the biomass of important species had declined by three-fourths in 15 years — a finding the authors said should “cause significant alarm.” But the week the report was issued, European Union officials signed a new four-year fishing deal with Senegal, agreeing to pay $16 million a year to fish for bottom-dwelling species and tuna.

Four years later, Mauritania followed suit. Despite reports that octopus were overfished by nearly a third, in 2006 Mauritania’s government sold six more years’ access to 43 European Union vessels for $146 million a year — the equivalent of nearly a fifth of Mauritania’s government budget.

“I don’t know a government in the region that can say no,” said Mr. Chavance, the French scientist. “This is good money, and they need it.”

Sid-Ahmed Ould-Abeid, who leads a Mauritanian association of small fishermen, said: “The E.U. has the money, so it has the power. It is easier to sacrifice the local fishermen.”

“We can’t compete with the European Union,” Ahmed Cherif said as he strolled past row after row of idle pirogues. “The government should have kept this resource for Mauritanians. Let these people work.”

Europe is just one foreign contributor to fish declines. Countries from Asia and the former Soviet Union also dispatched ships to ply northwest Africa’s seas. But often those fleets stay for shorter durations and without the same promises of responsible fishing and local development.

In fact, little development has taken place since the European Union signed its first fish deal with a West African nation in 1979. The huge economic benefits that come from processing and exporting the catch remain firmly in European hands.

African governments either misspent or diverted the funds earmarked for development to more pressing needs, while the Europeans sometimes made only token efforts on promised projects. Nouadhibou harbor, for instance, remains littered with 107 wrecked fishing trawlers eight years after the European Union promised to clear them to help develop the port.

In their defense, European officials say they moved to reform their fishing agreements in 2003 to address criticism that ship operators were overfishing and were undercutting local fishermen. Fabrizio Donatella, who heads the European Union unit that negotiates fishing deals, says the new agreements are models of responsible fishing and transparency.

Examples of mismanagement abound. The number of pirogues in six northwest African countries exploded from 3,000 to 19,000 in the last half-century, but Senegal and other nations have only recently begun to license them.

Guinea-Bissau, a nation of 1.4 million people, is a prime example of how not to run a fishery. According to Vladimir Kacyznski, a marine scientist with the University of Washington, no one has comprehensively studied the nation’s coastal waters for at least 20 years.

Daniel Gomes, Guinea-Bissau’s 12th fishing minister in eight years, said he had tried to be conservative in how much access to grant foreigners, despite paltry scientific data and severe economic pressures.

Still, asked whether his nation would end up with empty waters, he replied: “This prospect is not out of the question. This could happen.”

NYTimes

Tradition, lack of capital keep women out of fishing business

Grace Namalwa tries to calm her baby on the back as she cleans fish nets at Kasenyi Landing Site in Uganda. At the end of the day, she will be paid a paltry sum, by the owner of the nets, which she will supplement with the sale of her body. That is how most women in fishing communities survive.

Dr. Lucas Ndawula, the deputy director of the National Fisheries Resources Research Institute, says about 700,000 fishermen and 1.2 million people directly benefit from the industry.

According to the Fisheries Sector Strategic Plan, although, about 70% of the fish business is conducted by women, men benefit more from it.

"Men give us fish to smoke and we sell it for them," says Naome Nalwadda, a trader. "You have to befriend many men to get fish to sell. You cannot depend on only one fisherman," says another woman.

This, in reality, means sex for fish and there are several reasons for this.

Fishing is a labour-intensive activity. "Women cannot row boats or pull nets out of the water. That is why they remain at the shores," says Muzamili Lwanga, a fisherman.

A report by the Poverty Eradication Action Plan about lives of fishing communities shows that traditions prevent women from taking a dominant role in fishing. Just like hunting, there is a belief that women can bring bad luck if they went fishing. As a result, women were not even allowed to own boats or anything to do with getting fish out of the water, until a few years ago.

According to a survey carried out in 1991 at various landing sites, only 7% of the boats were owned by women. However, the number has grown over the past 15 years, thanks to various interventions.

According to research at Kasenyi, of the 200 boats and engines that operate there, only 30 were owned by women. "We employee men to fish for us," says Margaret Nakyejjwe, a boat owner who sold part of her land to buy boats. "I have to be around when my fishermen return to see how much fish they have caught," she explains. She then shares the day's catch with her male employees.

Getting capital to buy boats, nets and engines is a big challenge for women. However, some women have formed groups to solve this problem. For instance, the Katosi Women Fishing Development Association at Katosi landing site helps women get loans to buy boats, nets and engines and to demand for rights on the waters.

There is evidence that households where women are directly involved in fishing are better than those where only men are involved. "There is a greater willingness and opportunity to accumulate savings and invest in assets among households where both the men and women own boats," says the PEAP report.

More women are also involved in fish farming (aquaculture). Aquaculture has been developing steadily across the country. Many of the fish ponds were started by women's groups.

Overall, tradition, lack of capital and the fact that fishing is a manual job keep women out of the profitable fishing business.

New Vision

Lack of feed imperils Ugandan fish farming project

A $15 million commercial fish fish farming project in Uganda hangs in the balance now that one of its key partners, fish multiplication specialist Genomar, has pulled out.

Absence of a local, cost-effective source of fish feed accelerated the action, said project manager Deogratius Kasozi. “The feed itself is cheap but the cost of freight and the shelf life of only three months limited our options. Bringing it in by air was too expensive, while the long procurement cycle make imports by sea equally unviable as the stock expires before it even gets to the ponds,” he said.

The project was launched in 2005 to develop an integrated aquaculture operation with a fish hatchery and commercial fish farming aiming at yields of as much as 30,000 tonnes of tilapia annually by 2009.

Mr Kasozi says that Sungenor was trying to work with USAid to mobilise the industry to a point where it can support local manufacturing of fish feed.

Although there are many people currently growing fish in ponds, they have not been very successful because they are using poultry-based feeds, which impacts on yields. The more successful ones are engaged in growing lung fish, which is carnivorous and easier to breed. “Tilapia feeds from the top, which requires floating feed, as opposed to poultry feed, which sinks and eventually pollutes the ponds,” Mr Kasozi explained.

Initial estimates have put the cost of a fish feed plant at $2 million, an investment Mr Kasozi says would be justifiable only if it allowed the plant to achieve optimum output.

However, he said the objectives of the pilot project undertaken in 2005 had been realised with the fingerlings reaching the target weight of one kilogramme in six months. Yields were 50 per cent of the stock introduced, but Kasozi says this was expected because they had not put in place any controls against frogs and other amphibians that eat fingerlings.

The project was premised on the need to supplement fisheries from Lake Victoria, which, besides supplying a fish processing industry that has grown rapidly in the past 10 years, is exposed to massive demand for tilapia, the preferred fish in Uganda and most of the Great Lakes region. Sungenor says widespread commercial fish farming is the only way of saving Lake Victoria as it would absorb some of the pressure by using fast growing species to supply the domestic and export market.

Uganda’s earnings from formal fish exports surpassed the $136 million mark last year; it is estimated catches are over 250,000 tonnes annually. Growing demand for fish has led to more aggressive fishing methods that threaten the sustainability of the industry.

The project was expected to meet demand for fish in Uganda and neighbouring countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Congo and Sudan.

Compared with the strains developed by Genomar, wild tilapia can take as long as three years to reach a kilogramme of weight.

In trials undertaken in Masaka, 130 kilometres south of Kampala, control samples comprised of indigenous varieties took 12 months to achieve just 300 grammes of weight while the genetically developed varieties had achieved weights of 1kg in half that time.

According to the original plan, the project was expected to yield 10,000 tonnes of tilapia fish in the first year, beginning January 2006, before rising to 30,000 tonnes annually by 2009. Results from the pilot project indicated that annual output levels of between 10 tonnes and 40 tonnes per hectare were achievable in Uganda, but production had stagnated at the current level of one tonne per hectare mainly because of poor feed and water quality.

Besides its own commercial operation, Sungenor planned to introduce an outgrower scheme that it hoped would change the fishing culture in the Lake Victoria basin.

Declining catches from Lake Victoria continue to be a major concern in the region, even though recent studies have suggested an increase in fish stocks in the lake. At least four fish processing factories have closed down in Uganda during the past year, citing difficulties in getting fish supplies.

The East African

Rwanda tries tilapia cage aquaculture

Some 10,000 young tilapia weighing 30gms each are to be imported from Uganda to Rwanda.

This will be Rwanda’s country’s biggest fish cage pilot study, according to a leading Rwandan agronomist. The managing director of Genesis Ltd, Mr. Gil Nossan, an agricultural and livestock specialist, said te fish cage study is pioneered by a private developer and will be undertaken in Lake Muhazi in the eastern province.

“We are in the process of importing 10 tonnes of fish feed for this pilot study with each tonne going for US$1,200. This is the best way to grow fish. Local people invest in fish ponds and harvest little. Fish ponds require a lot of power to mix the water and there is a problem of lack of oxygen,” he said.

Nossan further explained that the aluminum cages will be inserted in the right spots of the lake. The water will mix naturally and thus provide oxygen in the cages. The fish feed, imported from Israel, will be placed afloat within the cage, which will be two thirds submerged in water and a third above the water.

The fish feed is dropped periodically within the cage depending on the fish age and size. The feed is routinely changed after two months.

A fish cage specialist working with USAID Uganda was recently in the country to ascertain the quality of the fish feed samples that were brought in and he gave the nod. Harvesting is expected in six months. The 10,000 fish imported weighing 30gms are expected to grow to 500gms within the six month period.

East African Business Week

Fishing with dynamite

Some Zambian fishermen in Mpongwe are allegedly using explosives to kill fish in the Kafulafuta and Kafue rivers.

Mpongwe District Commissioner, Minniver Tshuma, said the use of explosives to kill fish would affect fish breeding in the two rivers. Mrs. Tshuma said the illegal fishermen had also partially damaged Kasamba Bridge.

“The explosions partially damaged the bridge when the when they threw their explosives into the river near it,” she said. She claimed that the fishermen were buying explosives from miners who were stealing them from mining companies.

Daily Mail

World Bank awards Nigeria $32 million for fish farming project

In an effort to boost the growth of medium and small scale enterprises, the Federal Government of Nigeria has received $32 million from the World Bank for the facilitation of fish farming.

This was disclosed by Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Mustapha Bello, at the flag- off of implementation of the Catfish Industry Value Chain
Development held at the commission's headquarters in Abuja recently.

According to him, the World Bank selected catfish farming as an industry that can offer strong potential for growth and provision of employment. In addition to the $32 million given by the World Bank, the Federal Government gave N30 million ($236,000) to help in financing the project.

Bello said five firms expressed an interest in handling the project in collaboration with the World Bank. AquacultureProduction Technology (APT) of Israel was selected, and is to working with two Nigerian companies, Quick Projects Ltd and Eagleflair Consulting Ltd.

APT Director, Dan Cohen, expressed his company's desire to make Nigeria a force to reckon with in catfish farming through capacity building and establishment of demonstration farms. He said Nigeria was chosen for the project because it has a good climate and is a huge consumer of fish, importing a million tonnes per annum.

He said APT has 12 areas of intervention, in addition to three pilot states- Abia, Kaduna and Lagos, set up to meet the 24 months performance deadline stated in the terms of reference given to them by NIPC.

This Day

Uganda's private sector increases investment in aquaculture

Fish farming, considered a pastime venture, has now grown by 140 per cent from 285 tonnes in 1999 to an estimated 40,000 tonnes in 2006, said an official of Uganda's Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries.

Addressing fish farmers during a one-day forum organised by the Danish Development Agency (Danida) in Kampala on July 10, the Head of Aquaculture Unit in the ministry, Dr. Wilson Mwanja said the future of aquaculture was bright. The dramatic growth has been attributed to the empowerment of the private sector and unfolding market opportunities.

Mwanja said the national production of fish now stands at 440,000 metric tonnes annually. He said most of the fish catch comes from Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga, which produce on average 250,000 tonnes annually; 180,000 tonnes from Lake Victoria and about 75,000 tonnes from Lake Kyoga. At Shs2,000 ($1.20) for a kilo of fish, this translates to Shs880 billion.

Mwanja said Uganda's fish exports to the premium markets of EU, US, Japan and Middle East currently stand at $150 million. Exports to the regional markets of South Africa, the Great Lakes Region states of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi and Sudan stand at between $30million and $40 million.

The Monitor

Fish farming, considered a pastime venture, has now grown by 140 per cent from 285 tonnes in 1999 to an estimated 40,000 tonnes in 2006, said an official in Uganda's Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries.

Nile Perch exports from East Africa fall as EU consumer preferences change

East African nations sharing Lake Victoria could be forced to reduce dependency on the Nile Perch for foreign exchange earnings following a shift in consumer preferences to other species in key EU markets.

A market report for July by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) showed that EU imports of Nile Perch fillets have been falling, continuing a trend that began two years ago. Only Tanzania has kept its export levels since 2005, while Kenya and Uganda have continued reporting substantial declines in exports, the report in FAO's Globefish bulletin said.

"In 2007, however, prices declined somewhat. Some of these declines are due to a strong Euro currency, but a part of it is probably due to huge competition. Pangasius is now entering the EU market also in fresh form, thus competing directly with fresh Nile Perch fillets in markets such as Spain and Italy," the document explained.

For starters, Nile Perch and Pangasius are considered rivals in the market because they are both classified in a special category of fish with white meat. This renewed good performance by Pangasius in the key market segments adds to the woes of the Nile Perch industry that also faces a bleak future due to declining catches and prices. This state of affairs has already triggered a major shake-up in the industry with Anova, the leading importer of Nile Perch into the European markets, moving to expand its interest in the Pangasius trade.

"Lake Victoria fishing nations are well advised to strongly control fishing and fishing quotas of Nile Perch in the lake. In addition, they are wisely moving into alternative species, which includes tilapia farming around the lake," said fishery experts at the UN agency.

FAO said Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have a chance to maximise on alternative species such as tilapia because there are already existing industry structures and trade channels in Europe that would guarantee an easy entry into the market. Tanzania could however be forced to change its export rules to enjoy the fresh opportunities. For several years tilapia exports from the nation have remained banned to guarantee food security for the local population.

"Kenya, on the other hand is trying to reduce the dependence on Nile Perch for foreign exchange earnings. Agrant worth US$7.82 million will be provided by the EU to Kenyan fishermen operating in Lake Victoria. The grant will be utilised for access roads in East Africa as well as enhance equipment for landing fish," the document said.

But even with this second option for the East African states, players in the industry would have to strive to beat other emerging challenges because fish exports from Lake Victoria will be required to be compliant with international environmental standards.

Efforts have already began in attaining such standardisation through a process known as eco-labelling, in which the products would bear a logo that indicates they have been certified and produced within set standards. Discussions are underway to explore possibilities for eco-labelling Nile perch following an agreement at a stakeholders meeting last year.

The meeting, which brought together representatives from the fish industry, governments and development partners, provided the first steps in eco-labelling for in-land fisheries with a consensus to work towards gaining a Marine Stewardship Council label for Nile Perch from the whole Lake Victoria.

It is envisaged that this would also help diminish the bad image of Nile Perch in the European market created by a controversial documentary, 'The Darwin's Nightmare,'which alleged that earnings from the lake were being used to fuel armed conflicts in the region.

The documentary also claimed that consumers in the EU were enjoying delicious supplies of Nile Perch fillets while millions of people in communities around the lake were starving to death.

Business Daily

Kenya to boost commercial fish farming

Commercial fish farmers in Kenya will soon be able to acquire mono-sex Tilapia fingerlings for breeding for anticipated better returns following successful trials by the state-run fish breeding agency.

According to officials, the move by the central Kenya-based Sagana Aquaculture Centre (SAC), is expected to bring relief to market-oriented farmers, who have endured myriad problems including over-breeding of fish stock and stunted growth.

"The single sex fingerlings are expected to control the problem of stunted growth associated with over breeding in Tilapia ponds, which in turn result in reduced market value of the fish on maturity due to low weight and size," said Benson Thiga, the Officer in Charge of the Centre.

Meanwhile, Thiga has urged farmers to maintain the recommended stocking rate of two fish per square meter for maximum returns. With fish starting to breed at three and a half months, pond populations expand rapidly creating a high competition for food, air and space with stunting as the main consequence, he warned.

According to Thiga, farmers with a reliable water supply should consider fish farming as a viable venture since one acre is likely to yield up to three tons of fish worth some 600,000 Kenya shillings (about US$8,830).

The SAC, established in 1984 is managed by Kenya's Livestock and Fisheries Development Ministry as a source of reliable fish farming information and quality fish seeds for farmers. The centre is also encouraging farmers to integrate fish farming with other farm activities such as poultry and dairy, whose products could be utilised by fish, while animal waste from chicken and cattle could be used to fertilise fish ponds.

Africa Interactive