Virtual tour explores how to take aquatic food value chain solutions to scale
FISH4ACP’s online event capitalizes on lessons learned from the Blue Food Forum

20 December 2024, Rome – FISH4ACP’s latest virtual tour on 11 December highlighted on the black soldier fly as an alternative fish feed and on solar drying to reduce post-harvest losses in a bid to continue the debate on scaling up local solutions in aquatic value chain development.
“Fisheries and aquaculture are a cornerstone of livelihoods, economies, and cultures in our countries contributing to food security, health, well-being, and sustainable development,” said Cristelle Pratt, Assistant Secretary-General of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) opening the ninth edition of this online event.
“I want to emphasize the need to share good practices with other communities, countries and regions,” she added, explaining that by concentrating on the black soldier fly and on solar drying, the virtual tour was capitalizing on lessons learned from the Blue Food Forum.
This global event, held in Tanzania in September 2024, put a spotlight on good practices in aquatic food value chain development and examined how to scale them up to help tackle global challenges such as malnutrition, poverty and environmental degradation.
Science with an impact
“If the black soldier fly is going to reduce my cost, it’s a key thing,” the Nigerian catfish farmer Fatima Salaudeen told the virtual tours’ audience of nearly 200 people, recalling her inspiring encounter at the Blue Food Forum with Robert Musundire, a researcher from Zimbabwe who works with FISH4ACP to promote fish feed based on the black soldier fly among small-scale tilapia farmers in his country.
At the forum, Robert Musundire walked Fatima through the benefits of using this insect to make fish feed. Other than significant cost savings, he told her that these include high nutritional value and easy, low-cost production, which allows self-sufficiency for small-scale farmers such as herself.
“At that point, I fell in love with the black soldier fly,” Fatima concluded, explaining that she is now engaged in producing her own fish feed, while raising awareness among her peers to spread the word of the black soldier fly.
“Without scaling up, good science will not have an impact,” said Matthew Owen, a Senior Scientist at WorldFish, who works in several African countries on making local materials available to small-scale fish farmers, including the black soldier fly. He added: “You need to engage with local partners from the outset to ensure that your solutions are going to be applied.”
Hosted by FISH4ACP, an initiative of the OACPS, implemented by FAO with funding from the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the virtual tour brings together fish producers and fish workers, value chain stakeholders, experts, donors and the development community in an online conversation on aquatic value chain development.
The way forward
The audience next turned its attention to solar drying tents, another example taken from the Blue Food Forum. These tents are simple tools to dry fish products with direct sunlight, said Jovish Mkuchu, Principal Fish Technologist at the Tanzanian Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries.
Solar drying tents quicken the drying process and improve the quality of the dried fish, she added, which lessens the workload of fish processors and can increase their income. But most of all, they reduce rampant post-harvest losses in areas where traditional drying is done in the open air at the mercy of the elements.
Piloted by FISH4ACP in fishing communities on the Tanzanian shores of Lake Tanganyika, solar drying tents can be used across Tanzania, Jovish Mkuchu said, arguing that scaling up their use requires collaboration between government, research and actors along the value chain: “Together, we can put this technology to use where needed.”
Solar drying tents can reduce post-harvest losses by up to 60 per cent, according to Amenye Banda, an FAO small-scale fisheries expert with over ten years of experience in working with this innovation in Malawi.
“Community involvement is key,” she said, explaining that to scale up, you need to factor in the cost of building and maintaining the solar tents and offer necessary guidance to the fishing communities involved. “Let them understand the benefits of the technology and provide capacity building and skills development in how to use it.”
“How does this translate into bankability?” asked Leonard Mizzi, Head of Unit at the EU’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (INTPA) and a strong supporter of FISH4ACP’s bottom-up approach to aquatic value chain development.
In closing the event, Leonard Mizzi underlined the importance of finance when it comes to taking aquatic value chain solutions to scale. Including women and youth is equally important, he added, before making the case for increased coordination and multistakeholder partnerships. “That is the only way forward,” he concluded.