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Capital hampers E. Africa aquaculture investments

Arusha. Difficult access to capital has hampered investments in aquaculture in the East African Community (EAC) bloc.
The situation has been compounded by inadequate extension services and technical skills, a senior official of the Community asserted.
“Aquaculture is also seen as a risk business venture in the region,” said Mr Shigalla Mahongo, the executive secretary of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO).
He said the Jinja-based institution of the EAC was set to turn around the multi-million dollar sub-sector but will have to first seek solutions to the hurdles scaring potential investors.
“Insufficient information and data has contributed to hampering investments,”  he told The Citizen, calling for support from the partner states in addressing the challenges.
He cited production of quality feeds and fingerlings as among as among the possible investment areas in aquaculture to meet the growing demand of fish.
Dr Mahongo said LVFO has started in earnest to spearhead efforts to develop the sub-sector which, he said, has great potential for the regional economies.
However, he implored on the regional governments to extend the required support through combating some “illegalities”.
These include importation of thousands of tonnes of fish at a time the region has the potential to produce them locally.
The EAC has lately seen increased imports of farmed fish from the Asian countries, consuming the region’s hard earned foreign currency.
According to Dr Mahongo, the current per capita fish consumption in EA was seven kilogrammes much lower than 19.2kg recommended by the United Nations.
“By 2030, the EAC population growth alone would need 623,000 tonnes additional tonnes of additional fish production, he said.
Aquaculture is also seen as the best option for the region since catches from the natural water bodies, such as Lake Victoria, have generally stagnated.
The overall fish biomass in the shared lake is reported to have dropped to 800,000 metric tonnes in 2011 from 1.3 million tonnes in 1999.

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