Call for promotion of aquaculture across Africa

Aquaculture in Africa has emerged as a credible alternative capable of bridging the gap and contributing significantly to achieving food security and job creation as fish catches decline – coupled with rapid population growth.

This was said by Senegal’s fisheries and maritime economy ministry chief of staff, Baba Ndiaye, at a two-day high-level meeting on aquaculture held in the Senegalese capital Dakar last week.

Ndiaye said aquaculture in Africa can generate income and combat illegal migration. He advocated for a necessary transition across Africa from capture fisheries to fish farming.

African Network of Institutions Responsible for the Development and Promotion of Aquaculture president Samba Ka has called for coordinated action on aquaculture development across Africa.

“We must work together to find sustainable solutions,” Ka says.

Held on 7 and 8 October under the theme ‘What contribution can aquaculture make to inclusive growth, sustainable development and job creation in Africa?’, the meeting brought together representatives from 22 countries which are members of the Ministerial Conference on Fisheries Cooperation among African States Bordering the Atlantic Ocean. This body – of which Namibia is also a member – is a regional intergovernmental organisation for fisheries cooperation. Portugal’s Atlantic International Research Centre and the Media Observatory for Sustainable Fisheries in Africa (Mosfa) were also represented at the meeting. Mosfa is a network of media professionals, journalists, fisheries experts and researchers in Africa.

In 2014, the African Union (AU) adopted the policy framework and reform strategy on fisheries and aquaculture, which gave birth to a five-year project on enhancing sustainable fisheries management and aquaculture development in Africa, better known as the Fish Gov project.

The project was implemented by the AU’s Inter-Africa Bureaus for Animal Resources in close collaboration with the African Union Development Agency.

Funded by the EU, the project aims to enhance fisheries and aquaculture contributions towards achieving the AU’s Agenda 2063.

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