30 March 2013
“The study on the role of sustainable fisheries and aquaculture for Food security and nutrition”
Comments by Md. Ghulam Kibria – MFMR/Namibia
Current state of knowledge
Poverty "alleviation" and poverty "reduction" are often used interchangeably even in the learned literature but they are quite different. Poverty alleviation addresses symptoms of poverty and mitigates the effects, it does not lift people out of poverty, which is what poverty reduction is about.
Also it is useful to define what is meant by poverty. There is endless debate in the literature on this and there are concepts such as absolute poverty and the dollar a day measure and then there is relative poverty where poverty is measured against some local contextual standard (e.g. people in the Namibian Caprivi say a poor person is one with less than 10 head of cattle.) Poverty has also been measured in the past in terms of material welfare, income, health, education, etc. But now there is thinking that poverty also includes vulnerability to shocks, lack of assets, dis-empowerment / lack of voice etc. and is also linked to human rights. So again it is important to have a useful and practical definition of poverty that does not require a huge amount of data gathering and monitoring to measure.
Major issues and trends during the last decade
The Bangkok Declaration and Strategy for Aquaculture of 2000 was a comprehensive and well thought through document, virtually all of which is still relevant today.
In the case of subsistence aquaculture Government facilitation is essential to provide extension services, hatchery development for fingerlings etc., resulting in the foundation necessary for essential knowledge and infrastructure. Generally speaking aquaculture only becomes commercially viable if done on a large scale. Consequently input costs for subsistence aquaculture need to be kept at a minimum through using agricultural farm wastes as feed, and then utilising the small fish crop as an additional nutritional source for the farming family / community, or to sell parts of the limited harvest for money to purchase other household essentials.
The FAO 2005 Regional Review on Aquaculture Development in Sub-Saharan Africa states that “it is highly unlikely that the non-commercial sector will make any significant contribution to fish supply and demand or GDP in the target countries in the short to medium term. This can only be achieved by the commercial sector, which is emerging rapidly in a number of countries”.
A trend in Southern Africa is that Government’s are identifying development of small to medium enterprises (SME’s) as the powerhouse for economic growth, particularly in rural areas.
As stated in the Bangkok Declaration, there is a need to integrate aquaculture into overall rural development programmes. Agriculture development tends to be far advanced over aquaculture development and piggybacking on the extension services of government departments who are already well established in rural sectors will help in the integration process. These other sectors also need continued awareness raising of the potential for aquaculture to improve livelihoods, including participatory approaches to involve stakeholders in policy-making, planning, implementation and monitoring.
It should be noted that small scale aquaculture does not mean subsistence aquaculture. Consequently, with regard to small scale aquaculture, the FAO review recommends mobilizing and organizing rural fish farmers around nucleus commercial producers and/or input suppliers for sustainable support to rural aquaculture.
One of the major challenges when looking at small scale commercial aquaculture production is the ability to provide reasonably priced fish feed, since imported feed becomes expensive due to high freight costs. Until there is the required volumes of fish production generating good demand for fish feed, local feed manufacturers are not keen to embark on producing fish feed, for fear of not being able to sell it. Small scale aquaculture farmers need to get innovative, for example pooling their resources and jointly buying a small fish feed producing machine, where they utilising other agricultural feeds and add additional nutrients that meet the requirements of the fish they are farming. As well as development of good aquaculture feed manufacturing practice, this needs to be followed up with good on-farm feed management.
In the case of large commercial operations in Africa, they offer employment for their workers which results in financial benefits not only to the workers, but their extended families as well, helping lift them out of poverty.
Has aquaculture development through poverty alleviation, food security and rural development met the expectations and commitments expressed in the Bangkok Declaration
Within the Southern African Development Community (SADC), there is active commitment amongst some countries to pursue the aquaculture developmental ideals of the Bangkok Declaration. In South Africa with its larger economy the commercial aquaculture sector is effectively establishing itself. Countries such as Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe also have established commercial aquaculture farms.
A view that has been noted, however, is that some large commercial farms feel government is not concerned to assist them. It appears they are considered large enough to look after themselves, but this tends to make them feel isolated. Good communication with government, and also with regional and international facilitating organisations would help solve this.
The general emphasis of governments appears to be aimed at rural development, promoting the indigenous population through development of small to medium enterprises (SME’s). As compared to SE Asia, in most instances aquaculture is a relative unknown, so requires a lot of education support to create momentum. Government resources alone are generally not enough to have a lasting impact, so successful SME’s are needed to also champion the cause. Also, costs significantly increase when trying to up production, so farms have tended to stay in the subsistence category. By linking aquaculture SME’s to larger commercial aquaculture operations, this will help create production momentum.
In the Bangkok Declaration, under Strengthening Institutional Support, it stated that incentives, especially economic incentives, deserve to be given more attention in the planning and management of aquaculture development. This is very true but more input resources are needed to convince government institutions providing those incentives, that it is worthwhile doing so.
Again as stated in the Declaration, African countries are now developing clear aquaculture policy, and a lead agency has been identified to play a strong co-ordinating role. As always though, it generally takes a lot of effort to get the ball rolling, and these lead agencies need more resources to achieve the adequate organisational stature necessary to make real progress.
There needs to be ongoing work in clarifying legal frameworks and policy objectives regarding access and user rights for farmers. Security of tenure is critical for investment to take place, and in many cases this still needs to be made clear.
Also identified in the Declaration is the need to improve the capacity of institutions to develop and implement strategies targeting poor people. Although international development assistance is becoming increasingly directed towards poverty alleviation, much work in the field of aquaculture is still required to achieve this. Consequently, as recommended in the Bangkok Declaration, there is a continued need for donors to adopt more cohesive approaches and procedures, as otherwise the enormity of the job will result in effort being spread too thinly with little evidence of results.
Expectations of aquaculture development through poverty alleviation, food security and rural development in the future
To further SME development in the rural setting, economies of scale need to be created, where the small farms are linked to larger commercial operations, improving logistics and shortcutting the learning curve, as the larger companies, who have already learnt from their own mistakes, can pass this experience on to smaller SME’s linked to them.
To date there are not very many large commercial aquaculture operations, partly because the industry is new in much of Africa, and partly because they have tended to operate in the marine environment, not moving into inland rural freshwater settings, which are generally considered less financially viable. For this reason, African governments will need to also concentrate on helping introduce more large commercial operations which will likely require foreign investment to create momentum, which in turn will assist development of SME’s in aquaculture.
While identified under the heading “Investing in aquaculture development” in the Bangkok Declaration, there is a considerable need to continue fostering a greater understanding within financial institutions and bilateral and multilateral assistance agencies regarding aquaculture development and its financial needs. Also in terms of poverty reduction, there is a need to encourage establishment of credit schemes that support sustainable aquaculture such as micro-credit programmes, particularly for small-scale development. The risk is always that these small-scale developments do not have the necessary training and logistical support depth for them to succeed financially, so in addition to government support, somehow linking them to on the ground larger commercial players will help in this regard.
The Bangkok Declaration identified fisheries enhancements in inland and coastal waters including culture-based fisheries and habitat modifications in common pool aquatic resources, which require minimal food and energy inputs. These practises provide important opportunities for resource poor sections of the population to benefit from relevant aquaculture technologies and permit efficient use of under-utilised, new or degraded resources. The Declaration pointed out that this has considerable potential for increasing fish supplies from both freshwater and marine fisheries and generating income in rural inland and coastal areas.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has been working in the Namibian Caprivi with local community conservancies, and is successfully assisting communities to enhance fish production for local consumption, with little or no input costs. It has also been identified in Mozambique that the Zambezi River basin is suffering from increased fishing pressure as local fishermen harvest resources to undertake small-scale fish trade into surrounding countries. While small-scale, the concern is that the volumes of this trade are on the increase, and effort should be undertaken to assess whether fisheries enhancement could assist these poor Zambezi fishing communities. Also in Mozambique there are a lot of irrigation channels for agricultural production. The concern is that if fisheries enhancement was allowed to occur in these channels, the channels may become damaged. However, continued dialogue needs to occur with the government institutions running the irrigation channels to see if there are opportunities for low input fisheries enhancement. There is also the opportunity to stock fish in flooded rice fields, as occurs in Asia.
Salient and emerging issues
Value chain analysis is more and more gaining popularity as a means to quantify where the best benefits can be achieved.
In the case of subsistence farmers, aquaculture can just be a sideline to their normal livelihood, utilising what would otherwise be farm wastes, improving human nutrition, and perhaps providing a small income to the farmers.
Small-scale aquaculture operators tend to be more entrepreneurial by nature than subsistence farmers. They often remain restricted by logistical challenges, however, such as not having cold storage facilities for the product once harvested, meaning they can be at the mercy of distributors who can force the price down on the harvested product.
By linking small-scale operators to larger commercial aquaculture operations, a lot of the logistical challenges are overcome, but there is a general suspicion that the large operators will still control the smaller operators, squeezing them financially. Research is needed to see whether this is an issue, and if so, how it can be overcome.
Marketing of products is always crucial, and aquaculture is no exception, where initial technical production problems on being overcome can suddenly result in exponential production, resulting in flooded markets. The New Zealand Green shell Mussel case study is an example of this, the marketing issue being initially overcome by professional promotion at international food trade shows, and exposure through international food magazines. A producer organisation was also established, co-ordinating priorities. Lake Harvest tilapia farm in Zimbabwe did a very good job, initially marketing through a well established marketing company in Europe before developing its own brand, resulting in continued demand for its products, and at good prices.
As well as exporting overseas, Africa is now developing its own middle class with good buying power. There is also a large demand for cheap fish amongst the greater African population, and fisheries enhancement may provide a means for fishers to maintain a livelihood, thereby reducing the threat of overfishing due to increasing population pressure.
The way forward
My understandings from African experience is that (54 countries) fish productions in the African continent are still insignificant i.e. only 1.3% of the global total productions. One of the reasons behind the low production is poorly planned extension strategy and services at the respective government level. In this connection, we may consider following steps through proper consultation among governments, NGOs, development partners, inter-governmental organizations:
1.The respective ministry of each country should have a National extension strategy which can assist to implement below initiatives:
• to organize an extensive On-Site TNA (Training Need Assessment) nationwide. The long term objective of this TNA program is to improve skills and capacity building of all role players in the fisheries/aquaculture and other allied sectors in respective countries leading to enhanced production, economic returns and livelihoods amongst communities involved. The program can also lead to better delivery of training and other capacity building initiatives based on regional needs and environment.
• Nationwide On-Site TNA will result in several outcomes such as On-site TNA report, identification of various type of trainings and TOT (short-term and long-term tailor made theory and practical hands-on training courses for different stakeholders including farmers, extension workers, senior trainers etc), review of previous (last 10-12 years) and existing extension materials by various development projects, NGOs etc, development of field-tested extension materials and modules/course-curriculum at Universities level (leaf-lets, pamphlets, posters, flip-charts, manuals, simple record-keeping books etc) for the different target groups (farmers, extension workers, senior trainers etc) level. The extension materials need to be produced in English as well as local vernacular languages.
• To establish and replicate some of few tangible and sustainable extension models (FFS; Farmers field school, FC; Farmers club, VDP; T &V; The training and visit, Village development plan, TDS; Trickle down system etc) from Asia (especially from India, Vietnam, Thailand and Bangladesh) in African countries under the National extension strategy which will obviously assist and harmonize as well as strengthen the infant extension and outreach programme of developing African countries.
2. Some instances for African countries like in western Kenya, six new shops have recently been opened to supply high quality inputs to fish farming businesses called one-stop fish farming shop (Aquashops), the shops are part of a franchise, and are managed by local entrepreneurs, who must invest in order to buy stock and establish their shops. Under the franchise model, all Aquashops stock the same inputs and also offer advice, information and marketing services. As such, they fit very well with recent government investment in fish farming, being implemented as part of a national economic stimulus programme. Franchised shops are rare in rural Africa, but could be an exciting way to improve the availability of services in farming areas.
3. Another example from Eastern Africa such as in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda one of the development Pilot projects called RKN (The Rural Knowledge Network) supports the emergence of commercially viable market access service which are building effective and efficient rural marketing chains for the benefit of all stakeholders. This network encompasses market access networks in these 3 countries with all actors at national, district and local level keeping a constant and effective communication links (e-mail, telephone, SMS, face to face meetings, internet etc) for information sharing and business to business learning
4...Gender itself is a HCD (Human Capital Development) issue where men and women both (involving 100% human resources) should have education and training on aquaculture technologies and knowledge to contribute more food supply and security and earn more capital. Besides, gender awareness among aquaculture experts, scientists and fisher folk is vital in developing Aquaculture a fair and productive sector rather than merely forming policies.
ü It should identify the existing situation of research, development and policies on gender issues in the fisheries and aquaculture sector of different developing and developed countries and continents.
5. FAO and other agricultural organization might have gender policy and strategic plan to mainstream gender into program and project activities. In spite of this, many project and program are not gender sensitive at all. Gender issue is overlooked in many pond/fish farming activities. How gender inequality can impact on development sector like aquaculture is hardly addressed in education and training program.
ü It should set-up linkage among various fisheries societies/development partners, NGO-INGO (especially PADEK-Cambodia) for the effective exchange of information, lessons on gender issues.
6. The numbers of training- education and skill training have increased in this sector, women participation in fish farming has increased too. Yet women should come under training of how to get micro-credit and invest capital in trade and business.
ü To achieve gender equity, changes should have to occur at various levels. The existing gender-related programmes have resulted in awareness on gender issues. This awareness should need to be translated into more visible actions. Continued and coordinated efforts are needful to bring about long-lasting changes in the area of gender.
7. Awareness training aimed at harvesting marketing and pond record keeping could increase the participation but control over those activities is done mostly by men especially in marketing and credit or capital investment. The conference should focus on those issues too related to how to increase women’s control over resources and decision making.
ü It should increase gender awareness among fisheries professionals and promote the development of gender sensitive research and development projects.
8. Despite this higher involvement, women are usually reluctant to attend the training programs often due to heavy responsibilities at home.
ü Discussions should be held with both women and men to understand the factors that affected women’s effective participation in aquaculture and to identify the problems and constraints faced by them. The workshop should find out the direction and mechanism to increase women active participation reducing and sharing household responsibility so that higher involvement of women in farming might not increase their heavy work burden.
9. It is very much true that most of the aquaculture scientists improving linkages between research, extension and producers; in many case extension workers are reluctant to talk about gender disparity and its impact on society for socio culture discourse exist in their mind set.
It is no secret that African aquaculture is currently facing a number of development challenges that are an obstacle to rapid development of the sector. These include finance, expertise, juvenile supplies, infrastructure problems, lack of market access, inadequate legislation etc. Not all the countries in the region have developed legislation that deal with aquaculture, although a few countries, for example Namibia, has had such legislation for some years n
In conclusion, I’d like to say that “Traditional Extension Techniques” could not be supplanted until and unless those above challenges are being solved. In this case WE need to establish “A Regional Cooperation” in order to strengthen the extension strategy, capacity building of some selective African countries as a model
.
I trust my above reflections will strengthen our capacity and ability, as AU (African Union) platform to respond, as well as other relevant parties like CAADP, AFAAS, and NEPAD will come forward to collaborate with development partners to formulate an agricultural extension blue print.
Subsistence aquaculture needs continued government support through extension services training and infrastructure development such as initiating small-scale/Mini hatcheries.
By linking small scale aquaculture operations to larger commercial aquaculture companies, this will act as the driver for the development of small scale aquaculture. One should not forget the role of government in this process. The on the ground experience and logistics of the commercial companies as well as their close and regular contact to the small scale farmers, needs to be linked to generic facilitating support of government in areas that commercial companies cannot afford to do on their own such as genetic research.
Governments also have a role in encouraging large scale aquaculture by making commercial aquaculture investment in their countries attractive to skilled investors by offering long-term aquaculture leases that provide security for investment and security to lending agencies such as banks. Governments also need to provide attractive tax benefits to kick start the sector, and facilitate co-ordinated permit approvals between different government departments and municipalities on issues such as area approvals for different types of aquaculture, and effective assessment of environmental impact studies where necessary etc.
Both for small scale and large scale aquaculture operations, governments should prioritise facilitation of financing of aquaculture operations through development and agricultural banks, as well as education and training support of mainstream financial institutions who, without necessary expertise would otherwise not risk getting involved in loans to the emerging aquaculture sector.
Regarding “Implementation” of the Bangkok Declaration and Strategy for Aquaculture Development, point 1.5 stated “....Where effective regional inter-governmental organisations to promote co-operation in aquaculture development do not exist, such as in Africa ..., building of such mechanisms, and sharing experiences with the existing regional networks, is recommended.
Since the Bangkok Declaration, NEPAD, through the African Union is now creating momentum in promoting development of aquaculture in Africa and to establish a “Common African Agenda”. This promotion at Ministerial level is important to generate support at a high level, so as to encourage future governmental and donor support. NEPAD also has strong links with the FAO, who in turn have a lot of expertise in aquaculture development within Africa, and can provide good perspective regarding the way forward. Within Southern Africa this can be further pursued by organisations such as the SADC Secretariat getting financial support for development of aquaculture in the SADC Region. Institutions such as INFOSA, the Namibian based SADC Regional Office of INFOPECHE, the Intergovernmental Organisation for Marketing Information and Co-operation Services for Fish and Fishery Products in Africa are also promoting aquaculture in Southern Africa. They are doing this in conjunction with the Aquaculture Association of Southern Africa, based in South Africa. The WorldFish Centre is also promoting aquaculture in countries such as Malawi and Zambia.
A number of SADC countries are pursuing aquaculture, including Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Namibian Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) as an example, has also been injecting a lot of money into promoting aquaculture, both marine and freshwater, and developing Regional Inland Freshwater Aquaculture Research facilities such as the multimillion dollar Kamutjonga Inland Fisheries Institute (KIFI), strategically placed along the Caprivi Strip close to Angola, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The African continent contributes only about 1.3% of the total world aquaculture production. The global food insecurity especially as it affected Southern Africa. It’s great pity that about 800 million people were estimated to go to bed on an empty stomach every night. The majority of those people are from developing nations.
Our potential is much greater and must be enhanced for the benefit for the all African nations. We in Africa will be able to develop aquaculture and make use of the vast and untapped opportunities we have. Sometimes we are not even aware that these opportunities exist. For example, there are vast desert and most of SADC arid countries. But underneath the desert there are huge underground water resources. By conducting rigorous scientific research, these water resources could be utilized for inland aquaculture. We also have dams and perennial rivers. In order for us to make use of these natural resources for food production.
It is foreseeable that small-medium- to large-scale private investments in aquaculture as the key to a positive development. We have seen examples of this already in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Kenya. It is time it happens here especially in SADC regions, too.
It is imperative that to see the universities, polytechniques, research institutions and vocational training institutions to organize tailor-made aquaculture training courses along with hands-on practical training to cater for the human resources needs of our aquaculture industry in Africa.
It is noted to invite both local and foreign investors to explore the unlimited potential opportunities offered by African continent. Equally I would invite experts in aquaculture related field as well as of Institutions of higher learning, capacity building and research to consider Africa as a most appropriate aquaculture destination to impart and share their knowledge. Furthermore, I would invite various international organizations, development/strategic partners to assist Africa to reach our goal for aquaculture development. These all initiatives will enable African region to fight the ills of poverty, food insecurity and unemployment.
While at the time of the Bangkok Declaration, aquaculture in much of Africa was embryonic, but now we are seeing positive signs of it developing into infancy, and in some cases there are genuine commercial success stories. Generally speaking though, a lot of nurturing still needs to be undertaken, as well as research to understand where to prioritise resources. The fact that there are success stories, however, gives strong hope that Africa can develop a vibrant aquaculture sector in the future, and the Global Conference on Aquaculture 2010 had provided good tangible directions to achieve this.
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MD. Ghulam Kibria
Special Aquaculture Advisor to the Hon Minister
Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR),
The Government of Republic of Namibia
Private Bag 13355, Uhland Street, 4th Floor, Room 403
WINDHOEK-NAMIBIA
Tel: 00264-61-2053110/2053101/2053002 (Off); 00264-61-233286 (Fax)
Cell:00264-814007719; Fax2Email: 00264-088618910
Email: [email protected], [email protected],
Skype: ghulam.kibria
Web: www.mfmr.gov.na
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“Teach a man/woman how to catch fish and he/she will have food for a day,
and teach him/her how to grow fish and he/she will have food for life”
Ghulam Kibria