Mr Chairman of the Consultation, FAO Representatives, Consultation Participants, Invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.
It gives me a great pleasure to officiate the opening of this important expert consultation which aims at promoting sustainable commercial aquaculture in Africa South of the Sahara. On behalf of the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania and indeed on my own behalf, I wish to welcome to Tanzania participants from outside the country and all participants to Arusha. It is an honour and privilege for us to host this consultation.
At the outset, I wish to express my profound gratitude to FAO for co-financing this consultation. This is a clear indication of the commitment of the organization towards the development of sustainable commercial aquaculture as a tool to achieve food security, poverty reduction; increased incomes as well as increased employment opportunities.
May I also, on behalf of the Government and people of Tanzania and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation to all the participants, donors and observers for devoting your valuable time to participate in this very valuable consultation.
Mr Chairman, available information indicates that about 12 percent of the food man obtains from the waters of the globe comes from aquaculture. High hopes are therefore placed on aquaculture as a solution to the shortfall in the harvests from capture fisheries relative to the expanding human population. The development of aquaculture could offer not only Africa but all the developing world a unique opportunity for income generation through employment in fishing, fish processing and fish trade. Indeed, aquaculture can contribute to reducing poverty. In addition, it can contribute to the improvement of the nutritional status of the people, especially in rural areas, by providing cheap protein food.
Mr Chairman, aquaculture is a welcome initiative to use available potential areas to produce additional food fish and reduce the pressure on capture fisheries. The natural biological processes in aquaculture systems need to be identified, supported and controlled, if aquaculture is to be sustainable. It is therefore important that environmental impact assessment becomes part of any plan to establish a commercial fish farm so that mitigation measures can be identified and incorporated at the planning stage.
Mr Chairman, the history of aquaculture in sub-Saharan Africa dates back to late 1920’s when cold water culture of trout was introduced in high altitude areas of Kenya and Madagascar and later in the highlands of Tanzania, then Tanganyika. To date however, aquaculture south of the Sahara is still little developed with an average annual production of less than 15 000 tonnes per year which is equivalent to 0.5% of the world production. The estimated value of this production reached US$25 million in 1990. The most important producers as reported in 1990 were Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Zambia and Kenya which were producing more than 1 000 tonnes each per year followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ghana, Tanzania, Congo, Madagascar and Sudan which produced 200 and 700 tonnes each per year. The main causes of the slow growth of aquaculture in sub-Saharan Africa include among others, lack of motivation for fish farmers, lack of capital, poor quality of fish seed and limited knowledge on aquaculture.
Mr Chairman, the consultation has come at the right time when countries are taking measures to increase food production to curb malnutrition and poverty. Aquaculture in Africa has a great role to play in increasing fish production. I count on the consultation coming up with a plan of action to be used by policy makers and planners to stimulate rapid growth of commercial aquaculture in Africa. Developing commercial aquaculture will have the following benefits:
Mr Chairman, although commercial aquaculture development appears to be beneficial, it can have problems related to environmental damage if the activity is mismanaged. Environmental damage may cause a major cost to the society as it may include, among other problems, disease outbreaks. I trust the consultation will address the problems associated with commercial aquaculture especially the aspects of fisheries economic policies and legal framework. I expect the output of the consultation to target the reduction of the negative externalities of commercial aquaculture such as pollution, conflicts over water rights, land rights and open-access.
Mr Chairman, in order to achieve sustainable development of commercial aquaculture in sub-Saharan Africa, the experts gathered here today should act as the nucleus for encouraging cooperation and collaboration between countries to make use of the aquaculture expertise and facilities available in each country for the benefit of all.
Mr. Chairman, business aside, I wish to invite participants to take time out of their busy schedule to enjoy our tourist attractions such as Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti and Kilimanjaro National Parks and the beauty of Arusha Municipality including the International Conference Centre.
With these few remarks, it is my pleasure to declare the consultation officially opened.
Thank you for your attention. Thank you.
