Potentials and Constraints for Aquaculture in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Uganda
By Pamela Jagger and John PenderABSTRACT
Aquaculture may reduce poverty and contribute to sustainable land use by improving food security, providing rural employment, contributing to regional economic growth, and diversifying smallholder-farming systems. We hypothesize that there are conditions, including land quality, population density and access to input and output markets under which pond aquaculture is likely to be most successful. Aquaculture may have its greatest potential in regions where the adoption of fishponds provides an environmentally preferable livelihood strategy to draining and farming wetlands. Land areas with gullies and ditches that can support fishponds, and regions where land in general is not scarce may also be well suited to fishponds. Aquaculture is relatively labor intense, indicating that regions with moderate or high population densities, relatively low wage rates and few off-farm labor opportunities will be best suited to development. Although the majority of fish production in Uganda is currently derived from lake fisheries rather than aquaculture ponds, the presence of an established market for fish and fish products is illustrative of clear consumer preferences for fish and fish products, indicating sufficient demand to support aquaculture enterprises in many, but not all regions of the country.
There are potential technical, institutional and social constraints to the sustainable adoption of aquaculture technologies in Uganda. As is the case throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa, aquaculture in Uganda is a non-traditional technology; Sub-Saharan Africa currently accounts for less than 0.2% of world aquaculture production. The limited extent of Ugandan aquaculture indicates the need for education and technical training, and the integration of aquaculture into agricultural extension portfolios. The complex relationship between livestock and aquaculture systems provides an example of the degree of specialized knowledge that smallholders require to effectively co-manage fish-ponds and livestock that provide a source of manure for fertilizing ponds. The availability of suitable land, water, labor and inputs such as fish feed may also be primary production constraints. We also consider the critical importance of institutional stability, including access to credit and tenure security, and the development of post harvest technologies and transportation systems that can support the delivery of fish products to markets.
Fish as a Contributor to Food and Income in Developed Countries: Issues and Practical Approaches
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