SOUTHERN REGION OF AFRICA/RÉGION AUSTRALE D'AFRIQUE (continuer)

Aquaculture Development and Research in
MALAWI (continued)

Appendix

OUTLINE FOR NATIONAL AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

1. INTRODUCTION

• Justification for aquaculture development plan (duration ten years)

• Strategy should be in line with ‘Statement of Development Policies 1987–1996’ of OPC

• Description of fisheries in general
  • Capture fisheries: production + value (MWK)
  • Fish farming: production + value (MWK)
  • Reservoirs (culture-based fisheries): production + value (MWK)
  • Sport fishing: production + value (MWK)

  • Aquarium: production + value (MWK)

• From total production: calculate consumption per capita/year

• Calculate demand/needs in kg/capita/year
  Part of shortfall could be produced by:
  • Fish farming
  • Culture-based fisheries

2. HISTORY OF AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN MALAWI

• First development in Nchenachena built in 1950–51.
  • Trout hatchery for stocking streams and rivers

  • 1952: First trials using tilapia

• 1957: Construction at Domasi Station

• 1959: Activities in Nchenachena transferred to Domasi and Nchenachena abandoned

• 1964: Construction of fish farm at Bunda College

• 1971: Construction of Kasinthula fish farm after FAO mission of Pruginin in 1969

• 1988: Construction of Chisitu fish farm near Mulanje (ODA-funded)

• Previous projects and their achievements:
  • FAO at Kasinthula

  • Japanese assistance: Macrobrachium at Domasi
    Trout at Zomba Plateau
    Oxfarm for farmers around Domasi

• List of species used and introduced with date of introduction and origin

• Description, achievements and funding of ongoing projects:
  • CNRFFP at Mzuzu (HQ), Limphasa and Nchenachena and further up North
  • MAGFAD
  • ICLARM

  • ODA, Mulanje/Phalombe

• Project under negotiation for funding:
  • World Bank Project at Madisi. Pilot project for integrated management of small water bodies and crop/livestock production.

  • Proposed National Aquaculture Extension Service (UNDP for funding).

• Fisheries (FF) Extension: Fisheries Department (in the fifties-sixties) based at Domasi, after abandonment of Nchenachena.

• Estate fish farms:
  • Nchalo Sugar Estate (SUCOMA): started fish farming in 1981–82 + some Macrobrachium rosenbergii
  • Tea Estate (SATEMWA) at Thyolo
  • Dwangwa: fish in sewage ponds + Macrobrachium + crocodiles
  • Lujeri: Mulanje

  • Others

• Comments:

  • Reasons for failure of aquaculture development at the end of the sixties

3. PRESENT AQUACULTURE SITUATION IN MALAWI

• Extension services (Government and projects)
  • Description of extension implementation
  • Number of active extensionists (table by extension zone)
  • Transport (existing)
  • Fingerling production: Number of fry producing centres
    Surface area
    Fingerling production (numbers and weight)
  • Aquaculture production (table)

1. Smallholder farmers
2. Estates
3. Government fish farms

• Species cultured: O. shiranus, T. rendalli, common carp, O. mossambicus, Macrobrachium rosenbergii and crocodiles

• Research

  1. Basic - Institutions: Bunda College and Chancellor College
  2. Applied research: ICLARM (Domasi), Fisheries Department
  3. Existing training at all levels: where and duration

4. FISH FARMING POTENTIAL IN MALAWI

• Description of potential by region
  • Northern
  • Central
  • Southern
  • Smallholder

  • Commercial

• Map with all potential areas for pond culture in the three regions

• Map with all potential reservoirs/dams for culture-based fisheries

• Description of each potential area:
  • Physical conditions
  • Temperature (ambient)
  • Temperature (water)
  • Altitude
  • Rainfall
  • Water quality
  • Soils (quality)

  • Socio-economic factors

• Availability of agro-industrial by-products

• Previous aquaculture development in the area in the fifties-sixties (abandoned ponds, if any)
  • Localization of the abandoned ponds

  • Surface area

• List of dams/reservoirs
  • Situation (near village …)
  • Surface area
  • Year of construction and purpose
  • Infrastructure (monk, spillway, etc.)
  • Fishing activity, if any

  • Number of persons/villages around the dam

• Summary of potential by region
  • Pond fish farming (smallholder, estates)

  • Culture-based fisheries in small water bodies

• Existing government fish farms (including project farms)

  • Description of existing facilities:
    Year of construction
    Number of ponds
    Production of fingerlings or food fish (kg/year)
    Building and other infrastructure
    Equipment
    Staff
    Labourers
    Annual budgets

• Full time aquaculture personnel in Fisheries Department and in projects.

5. TEN-YEAR AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT PLAN

• Starting from identified potential areas (by region)
  • Description of how potential sites will be developed. Pond fish farming (smallholder, estates, etc.)

  • Culture-based fisheries in small water bodies

• Prepare a map (or several maps) of identified potential areas, thus aquaculture development areas

• For each development area, estimates of:
  
  1. Pond Fish Farming
     • Number of ponds to be constructed during Year 1 to Year 10
     • Number of farmers Y1 to Y10
     • Number of fingerlings required Y1 to Y10
     • Number of extensionists required + housing + transport + equipment/extensionist + running costs/year/area (Y1 to Y10)
     • Cost of required inputs (housing, etc.)/area. Y1 to Y10
  2. Small Water Bodies
     • Number of water bodies to be rehabilitated (Y1 to Y10)
     • Number of fishermen/villages involved (Y1 to Y10)
     • Number of fingerlings needed for stocking (Y1 to Y10)
     • Staff requirement for dam management + housing + transport + equipment + cost of maintenance of each dam + cost of restocking + running cost/year/dam

     • Description of fishing gear to be used and its cost

• Fingerling requirements for aquaculture development in each area per year (Y1, Y2 to Y10)
  Example:
  • Number of fingerlings required in Area A during Y1 is 2 000 000 as per expected pond area and number of ponds and dams
  • Number of broodstock (males and females) required to produced 2 000 000 fingerlings
  • Number of stocking ponds + spawning ponds needed to stock required broodstock to produce 2 000 000 fingerlings/year
  • Allow to fix size of fry-producing station + buildings + facilities (holding tanks, etc.) + equipment + feeds + fertilizer + staff + transport + budget
  • Cost of all required inputs (houses, equipment, etc.) for Area A during Y1

  • Same procedure for each aquaculture development area (Y1 to Y10)

• Staff requirements (Y1–Y10)

PO = Project Officer
TO = Technical Officer
TA = Technical Assistant
Ex = Extensionist
Rs = Research worker

• Training. For each level, state:
  • Where, when, duration, cost
  • Preparation for required budget for Y1, Y2–Y10
  • Planning for required personnel for implementation of the plan for Y1, Y2–Y10

6. EXPECTED OUTPUTS PER DEVELOPMENT AREA

Same (similar) table for Region, i.e. totals of development areas of the region

Same (similar) table for Malawi, i.e. totals of three regions = national level

Regional stations, sub-stations and aquaculture development areas

• Projection of the future of aquaculture
• What would be the role of MAGFAD, World Bank, CNRFFP or ODA?
• What present activities NOW, for FUTURE?
• What can we think to offer to farmers: broodstock management, etc.?
• What is the most important activity - in the future?
  1. price of fingerlings
  2. fish
• What is the most appropriate technology?
• Development of species

Aquaculture Development and Research in
TANZANIA

Grace A.L. MAFWENGA
Regional Fisheries Office
Arusha, Tanzania

Figure 1. Administrative districts of Tanzania

Abbreviations

GENERAL BACKGROUND

Tanzania has an area of 942 600 km² and ranges from 40° to 30°E longitude and from 1° to 12°S latitude; 6.55 percent of its area is of open waters (61 500 km²) (Figure 1). Its Indian Ocean coastline extends for approximately 800 km. It is characterized by a narrow shelf. The total fishing area from shoreline to the 400 m isobath is approximately 19 000 km² (FAO, 1979).

Presently the production of marine fisheries make up only 13.71 percent of the total national fish production (Fisheries Department, 1990). The remaining fish production comes from fresh waters, covering a total area of 58 000 km². This includes three big lakes (Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa), as well as major reservoirs, small water bodies, rivers and ponds.

The annual sustainable yield for all marine and inland waters is estimated to range from 400 000 to 500 000 t.

The average annual per caput fish consumption in Tanzania is estimated at 38 kg. Fish contributes 40 percent of the total animal protein supply.

On the basis of a minimum annual requirement of 15 kg/head, the projected demand for fish has been estimated at 368 873 t for 1990. But capture fisheries have produced 359 000 t only, leaving a deficit of 9 873 t, which is expected to come from aquaculture. According to the data collected aquaculture produces 375 t only (Fisheries Department, 1989). This by far lags behind the projected annual demand from aquaculture, which has been estimated to reach 145 000 t by 1995 (Ibrahim, 1975).

The present report is an appraisal of the aquaculture status in Tanzania. To the best knowledge of the author, there has not been any in depth review of aquaculture development in Tanzania since 1984 (Balarin, 1985), despite the fact that different organizations have been offering both technical and financial support.

During the preparation of this review, the author has contacted officials from the Fisheries Division, various organizations and institutions as well as individuals fully involved in promoting aquaculture (Appendix 1).

1. AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT

1.1 History of Development

It is not well documented as to when modern fish farming started in Tanzania. Records show that, in the fifties, the Fisheries Department under the colonial government started experimental ponds in Korogwe and Malya areas to produce fingerlings for reservoir restocking. By 1955, these had become important centres for distributing fingerlings, and over 50 percent of the reservoirs were restocked. These records suggest that early fish farming in Tanzania was mainly on restocking dams as opposed to farming ponds.

However, other authors allege that fish farming started in 1927, while others document that it started between 1949 and 1951 (Meschkat, 1967; Goult, 1951).

After independence, the Fisheries Department was established in 1964 under the Ministry of Agriculture. Since then it has been shifting from one ministry to another. At present, it is under the Ministry of Tourism, Natural Resources and Environment. Aquaculture development falls under the Department of Fisheries.

It appears that, for many years, the Department of Fisheries neglected aquaculture due to the relative importance of capture fisheries. This attitude has contributed a lot to the present underveloped state of aquaculture.

Table 1

Number of ponds in Tanzania (1975–1992)

Source: Regional Annual Reports, 1975 to 1991

Figure 2. Structural organization of the Department of Fisheries

It took until the second five-year development plan (1969–1974) for aquaculture plans and strategies to be laid down. By 1964, there were about 8 000 fish ponds in different regions (Fisheries Division 1967), out of which 15 regions had their own government breeding ponds. Since then, the number of ponds has been decreasing in most regions, as Table 1 shows. For example, Morogoro Region, which had 565 ponds in 1981, had only 300 ponds in 1992, and most of them were in a bad condition. Kagera Region, which had 950 fish ponds in 1976, is reported to have none at present.

By 1992, only few regions were actively engaged in fish farming, either through external assistance or operating under a limited budget allocated to aquaculture. These include Ruvuma (4 960 ponds), Mbeya (849 ponds), Iringa (753 ponds), Arusha (700 ponds) and Lindi (63 ponds).

Despite the growing number of fish ponds in these regions, fish production is unknown due to the absence of data recording. However, Arusha reports a production of 2 to 2.5 t/ha/year and Lindi reports 1.2 to 2 t/ha/year.

The size of the ponds differs from one region to another. In Arusha, the minimum pond size is 100 m², while in Lindi it is 375 m². In Ruvuma, Mbeya and Iringa, the average size is 207 m², 1 257.8 m² and 851.3 m² respectively.

There are a number of reasons which have contributed towards the decline of aquaculture development in Tanzania. The major reasons are the structural organization of the ministry, the low priority given to aquaculture for funds and training and land rights.

1.2 Land Rights and Legislative Framework

Under the Land Ordinance Cap. 113 of the Laws, all land belongs to the government. All people with title deeds have the right to a piece of land. This leaves a number of rural fish farmers without valid legal rights over land on which they have constructed their fish ponds. Thus, most of them cannot get loans from banks which require mortgaging of a title deed.

However, the government has simplified other procedures. Before foreign investors can engage themselves in fish farming they require a fish farming permit to be granted by the Department of Fisheries. Other authorities are also involved in the process. These include the Investment Promotion Centre (IPC), the Ministry of Energy and Water (for water right) and the Ministry of Land (for lease of land). The licence for exporting fishery products is given separately and is granted by the Department of Fisheries and the Bank of Tanzania.

1.3 Institutional Framework

The structural organization of the ministry leaves much to be desired.

The Department of Fisheries which deals with aquaculture, has offices in all regions and districts, down to the village level. However, under the decentralization policy of 1972, the regional fisheries administration is under the Regional Development Director (RDD), who is directly answerable to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and not to the Ministry of Tourism, Natural Resource and Environment, responsible for promoting aquaculture. At the same time, the district fisheries administration is under the Ministry of Local Government and Cooperatives (Figure 2).

The above institutional framework is a hindrance towards the development of aquaculture. This clearly manifests itself in aquaculture development plans at different levels. Different administrative levels give different priorities to aquaculture development.

1.4 Education and Training

Under the Department of Fisheries, there are three training institutes: Kunduchi Marine Fisheries Institute, offering diploma courses, Nyegezi Freshwater Fisheries Institute and Mbegani Training Institute, both offering certificate courses. The Kunduchi and Nyegezi institutes give a very low priority in teaching aquaculture courses. For example, fisheries biology is among the five major courses taught at Kunduchi, but only 22.5 percent of the hours used are for this course (Appendix 4). Under this course there are several subjects, aquaculture being one of them (Appendix 5). Again, only 20 percent of the total hours allocated to fisheries biology is for aquaculture. At Nyegezi, aquaculture is only one of the five main topics.

During the National Annual Meeting of 1991 held at Songea, it was proposed that aquaculture refresher courses for field officers be introduced in these institutes. Nyegezi and Megani Institutes are already advertising a three-month aquaculture course. It was also proposed that the amount of hours used for theory be increased. The Kunduchi Institute and TAFIRI are planning to have a fish farming centre with ponds. The students will be among the beneficiaries, if implemented.

At Kunduchi it is intended to place more emphasis on applied subjects so as to enable the graduates to be self-employed. Aquaculture, therefore, will be among the main courses (Kimaro, pers.comm.).

The University of Dar es Salaam offers a three-year B.Sc. course in marine biology and oceanography. The course is made up of 130 units, out of which only three units (2.3 percent) in the third year are on aquaculture. The same faculty offers an M.Sc. course in marine biology, with only three out of 30 units on aquaculture. At present, there is an acute shortage of lecturers in aquaculture, and students who join the M.Sc. programme do not specialize in aquaculture.

Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) is planning to include an aquaculture component for the Animal Science degree students. The course is expected to consist of 40-hours lectures and 20-hours practicals. The four-year degree programme was due to begin in September 1993 (Katule, pers.comm.). It is planned to have 20 ponds for practicals.

Because of the above situation, Tanzania lacks high cadre personnel for research, training, data processing and planning of aquaculture development.

1.5 Development Plans

National development plans and projects are prepared by the Aquaculture Section within the Fisheries Department before being later scrutinized by the Fisheries Development. Then, the department forwards the plans to its ministry for approval before forwarding them to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning for final government budgeting. However, the annual budgets show that a very limited amount of money is allocated to aquaculture. For example, in the 1985 budget, a total of TZS 23.3 million was allocated to the Department of Fisheries, out of which only TZS 1.93 million for aquaculture. This represents only 8.2 percent of the Department of Fisheries' budget.

At the regional and district levels there is no specific budget for aquaculture activities. Funds which can be used for aquaculture development fall under the operations vote which is limited and is meant for variable fisheries development activities. Aquaculture gets a very low priority under this vote¹.

¹ In Arusha, for example, the Region's budget for 1991–92 and 1992–93 under the operations item was only 31.2 and 15 per cent respectively.

1.6 Evaluations and Development Constraints

The Department of Fisheries organizes annual meetings. All regional fisheries officers, company directors, private organizations and institutions involved in fisheries are invited. Before 1991,. non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in fisheries were not being invited. It was during the 1991 annual meeting that it was resolved that NGOs involved in aquaculture development should be invited to attend the annual meetings.

Table 2

Evaluations made by foreign teams since 1985

During these meetings, evaluations of aquaculture research and development are made. Foreign organizations and individuals have contributed a lot towards this task, as shown in Table 2. It is worth mentioning that all evaluations made by different agencies show that Tanzania has a high aquaculture development potential.

Several constraints to aquaculture development have been identified:

• fish culture is only a part-time activity
• lack of local technical know-how (in construction, stocking and management)
• lack of knowledge on indigenous species potential
• lack of quality fingerlings
• no proper records of fish production, which makes it difficult to assess pond productivity
• government centres lack facilities to accommodate regional aquaculturists, and field staff have been left to their own initiative (FAO/GCP, 1983)
• fisheries extentionists have no transport to enable them to visit farmers who are scattered over large areas; for example, in Mbeya Region, one extensionist visits ponds within a radius of 20 km on foot
• the Department of Fisheries' budget is inadequate for aquaculture development (Lema, pers.comm.).

The evaluations have shown that the prime market for fish from aquaculture is in areas far from fishery supply routes (Balarin, 1985; Bonzon, 1988). Export trade is common in regions bordering other countries, although export statistics are not reliable as some fish consignments find their way outside the country illegally. The government is encouraging the exporters to use PTA markets.

The financial assessment of production practices for aquaculture under local conditions has not been done. However, the advantage of aquaculture is that it can be implemented on land that has a very low or zero opportunity cost, for example in mangroves and swampy areas. Despite the fact that there is no nation-wide assessment on economics of fish farming in Tanzania, the author's study in Arusha Region shows that labour costs vary from one place to another. The greatest single factor inhibiting villagers is the lack of money to finance the initial construction of ponds. Appendix 2 shows the cost and profits expected from one 100-m² pond in the Arusha Region.

Due to the relatively high construction costs of fish ponds and the inability to meet preconditions for loans from banks, most individual subsistence farmers who comprise 90 percent of all farmers cannot take the risk of starting commercial farms/ponds.

The second target group comprises commercial fish farmers. These may form a better target group as aquaculture calls for an entrepreneurial approach. However, very few farmers belong to this group.

Evaluation of aquaculture practices shows that emphasis has been placed on small-scale farmers (Table 3).

1.7 Production Statistics

Due to the lack of data on number of ponds and production, the aquaculture status in Tanzania is not very clear. Table 4 shows estimates of aquaculture production in Tanzania. According to regional annual reports, there are 8 611 ponds with an average production of 1 900 kg/ha/year. Most of the regions are silent on fish farming activities in their areas.

Four regions are particularly active in aquaculture: Arusha, Iringa, Mbeya and Ruvuma. Available aquaculture statistics concerning these regions are given in Table 5. See also Table 1 for number of ponds in Tanzania.

Table 3

Evaluation of the state of aquaculture in Tanzania

Table 4

Aquaculture statistics for Tanzania

¹ Based on four regions actively engaged in fish farming (see Table 5). Lindi's average production: 1.2–2 t/ha/year; Arusha's average production: 2–2.5 t/ha/year

Table 5

Aquaculture statistics from four active regions for 1991

Table 6

Aquaculture aid projects

Figure 3. Estimate of foreign aid allocation in 1976 and 1988 to the fisheries sector by activities

1.8 Aquaculture Development Projects

For quite some time, Tanzania has been receiving financial and technical assistance from different donors, as shown in Table 6 and Figure 3. By 1980, different donors had already assisted seven regions.

Of the technical assistance offered to Tanzania, the U.S. Volunteer Peace Corps and USAID in Ruvuma, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT) in Arusha and the Anglican Church in Hombolo have been successfully implemented. Other foreign-funded projects which have just been started and show signs of success include the fish farming development project in Arusha (OXFAM) and the fish farming programme in Masasi district (British Volunteer Organization).

As shown in Table 6, most of the financial assistance received has been on capture fisheries (production) and not in fish farming. Within a period of about 10 years (1976–1988), only 3 percent of the financial aid was given to aquaculture, while capture fisheries received 90 percent. This indicates that even foreign donors have given priority to capture fisheries.

To accomplish the Department of Fisheries' policy on fish farming (promoting and encouraging integrated fish farming with the ultimate objective of developing rural fish farms), different projects have been started, almost all externally funded. Table 6 shows a list of major projects and funding agencies between 1978 and 1993. By 1982, half of the regions involved in fish farming had externally funded projects. This aid was mainly for the renovation of the regional/district breeding/nursery ponds. This was done with the view of strenghtening the government centres so as to facilitate the extension work to the farmers. But these centres were not integrated with other income generating projects like husbandry and agriculture. Also, most of the local staff running the centres were not conversant with advanced fish farming techniques. As such, the centres died of natural death after the termination of aid.

Visiting consultants often failed to take adequately into account the social and economic structure of the local society. Most of the projects were based on large-scale showpiece constructions, using sophisticated techniques, alien to the villagers who were supposed to be the beneficiaries of the work. Due to the failure to involve local expertise in these projects, they were not sustainable. Only few donors and NGOs such as the U.S. Peace Corps, Church groups (Lutheran and Anglican) and USAID worked closely with local expertise.

Fish farming development potential is high in Tanzania, but its success very much depends on the skills of extension workers. The government and donor organizations should give a high priority in funding and training personnel so as to lay concrete foundations for aquaculture development.