3.6 Africa

Figure 3.6.1.
Africa’s contribution to total world aquaculture production remained below 0.4% from 1984 to 1995, reaching 107,000 mt in 1995, with an increase in production of about 9,000 mt over that of 1994, and an almost three-fold increase since 1984. The value of African aquaculture production in 1995 reached US$208.7 million, increasing by over US$9.3 million from 1994 and US$179.4 million since 1984 (Figure 3.6.1).

The continent kept pace with the world average growth rate of the aquaculture sector with an APR of 12.7 in the period 1984-1995 against a world average growth of 9.6 for the same period, although from a much smaller base. This growth rate has, however, slowed down in recent years, increasing at a rate of 6.6% during 1990-1995. Compared with the capture fisheries sector, which had an average growth rate of 2.6% in 1984-1995 and 1.2% in the period 1990-1995, aquaculture has grown at a much faster pace. However, it is still a small sector when compared with the 5.4 million mt landed in 1995 by capture fisheries in the African countries.

Figure 3.6.2.
Egypt is the most important aquaculture producer with 62,000 mt (58% of total African production), followed by Nigeria with 17,000 mt (15.5%). These major producers are followed by a group (group B, Figure 3.6.2) of nine countries led by Madagascar, with production levels ranging from 5,000 mt to 1,000 mt. The rest of the continent (group C, Figure 3.6.2) accounted for only 4.6% of the total production.

From an aquacultural point of view, the two sub-regions into which the continent has been divided in this report, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, differ markedly with regard to general characteristics of production, constraints and development potential, as can be noticed in the more detailed reviews of the sub-regions which follow. Aquaculture is a traditional practice in only one country of the North Africa group-- Egypt, where extensive forms of aquaculture have been practised for a considerable period of time. In all other countries of the continent, aquaculture is a relatively new technology and has not yet acquired a clear position in national economies as a consolidated food production sector.

In terms of physical potential, resource limitations (freshwater and suitable inland sites) in the North African countries have pushed development towards the farming of marine and estuarine species, mainly for export to the European markets. The new farms tend to use more sophisticated, intensive production technologies that have been imported from other Mediterranean countries. The most likely trend which can be expected in these countries is that of progressive intensification of production, both of the traditional species and those farmed for export.

Aquaculture in sub-Saharan Africa has been orientated to domestic markets and practised mainly by small-scale farmers. According to recent GIS-based evaluations, the physical potential for expansion of production based on this form of aquaculture is much larger than the present levels of production. Given the physical potential, an horizontal expansion of small-scale aquaculture seems to be the most likely scenario, as a core of producers with sufficient experience emerges in the various countries. However, rural aquaculture is not the only possible form of aquaculture in the sub-region. In recent years, trials with mariculture have led to a sizeable production in South Africa and Madagascar, and the potential for replication of these successful examples appears to be there. In general, the novelty of aquaculture, combined with the economic difficulties experienced by many countries of the sub-region and the relative lack of entrepreneurs and credit for aquaculture development, presents an important obstacle to the expansion and consolidation of this new practice.