The Workshop recognized that:
51. There is still much unrealized potential for economically viable and sustainable commercial aquaculture in Zambia and Malawi. However, commercial aquaculture is developing at a very slow pace in these two countries. Nonetheless, there is still growing interest that needs support.
52. There is a need in Zambia and Malawi to speed up the development of policies, strategies, strategic plans, legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks in order to regulate, facilitate and enable commercial aquaculture to take off and expand.
53. The major constraints to commercial aquaculture development in Zambia and Malawi remain:
1. The quasi-complete inaccessibility to funding and to loans.
Inaccessibility to funding and loans arises from:
the lack of information on the part of potential investors in commercial aquaculture, on the funding mechanisms;
the lack of knowledge on the part of the potential borrowers on how to prepare convincing business plans when seeking loans;
the perception by lending institutions that aquaculture ventures bear a high risk of failure;
the lack of experience by local lending institutions on aquaculture and allied industries as economically and financially viable activities;
the lack of government policies encouraging funding and financial institutions to support infant industries such as aquaculture and allied industries just as they do in some other agricultural subsectors;
the prohibitively exorbitant interest rates charged to potential borrowers. In addition to macro-economic factors, these high interest rates are especially a result of the lack of adequate collateral and equity by loan applicants.
2. The lack of clear enabling policies, strategies, plans and legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks for aquaculture development in general.
3. A shortage of skilled manpower.
54. Donor and government focus in aquaculture has traditionally been in small holder sector. Consequently, commercial aquaculture has felt left out and is equally in need of support.
