On 25 May, Africa celebrated its annual Africa Day, which is the commemoration of the formation of the Organization for African Unity (OAU) about 57 years ago. The OAU was disbanded and replaced by the African Union (AU) in 2002. Unfortunately, commemorations were held in a somber mood this year. No doubt everyone is talking about the novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), which is taking its toll on the world, causing deaths, illnesses and economic despair. The pandemic has spread to all 55 countries in Africa. According to the latest data by John Hopkins University and the Africa Center for Disease Control (CDC), as of 27 May, the continent had nearly 120,000 confirmed cases, with just over 3,600 deaths.

This is my first column for 2020 — let me begin by welcoming you to a new decade and a new year 2020!

The past year has been a remarkable year for the African Chapter of WAS. The year marked the end of the “establishment phase,” where most of the Chapter’s foundational structures were successfully put in place. As I promised in my previous column, we have finished setting up and launched the necessary working eight committees that will work to advise the Board on decision-making processes and some ad hoc activities, in line with Chapter by-laws and our Strategic Plan. The committees consist of Chapter members in good standing, identified from the various regions of Africa and beyond, but with the relevant competencies to perform associated duties. I am looking forward to working with these committees to drive African Chapter business forward. I owe a debt of gratitude to many of you, our members, for agreeing to be part of these committees.

The African Chapter is currently celebrating its one-year anniversary and when I look back to where we started, where we are today,where we are going and the achievements we have made to this day, I just feel so blessed to be leading such a progressive society. We are slowly getting there!

This past quarter has been quite an eventful and momentous one for the African Chapter. I’m elated by the hard work and due diligence expressed by interim office bearers and advisors to take the Chapter to another level of progression. As a team, we managed to deliver on various planned programs and activities within our workplan.

The African Chapter of The World Aquaculture Society is please to announce that it has appointed an interim board to direct the activities of the chapter until a permanent board can be elected by the chapter membership.

Congratulations Africa and the world aquaculture community, 7 November 2018 marked the approval and ratification of the African Chapter of WAS! We are delighted about this great achievement and proud to be finally standing alongside other chapters of WAS from around the world. It would be prudent for me to begin this presidential column by evoking the journey we have been on and achievements made along the way to where we are today.

A very import part of the future success of the African Chapter is the belief and support of Aller Aqua for the African Chapter. Aller Aqua has agreed to support the African Chapter, World Aquaculture Society (WAS) as a FOUNDING GOLD SPONSOR, thereby contributing to the activities of the Chapter and Society.

“It is important for us to continue to have a positive impact on aquaculture globally. Aquaculture is experiencing significant growth, particularly in Africa, and it is vital to support initiatives which help ensure that growth of aquaculture is facilitated all over Africa. This is done through research as well as sharing knowledge. Besides our own activities, we can help achieve this through our support of the WAS African Chapter and their efforts. I am pleased that WAS have chosen to focus on aquaculture in Africa and through the African Chapter recognize the large diversity on the continent. We experience it when meeting with customers from the various African countries”
Niels Lundgaard, Aller Aqua Commercial Director for Africa

Mariculture development in Kenya started about three decades ago when initial attempts were made, including a survey to identify suitable areas for shrimp farming, with a focus on suitability of soils and tidal range (Yap and Landoy 1986). This led to the development of commercial mariculture in the 1980s, funded by the FAO, to culture prawns at Ngomeni, in northern Kenya, with a total estimated area of 60 ha (UNEP 1998, Rönnbäck et al. 2002). Target species were Indian white prawn Penaeus indicus and tiger prawn Penaeus monodon. However, other species (e.g. rabbitfish, mullet and milkfish) that co-occurred in culture ponds informed the choice of species for the current interventions (Sivalingam 1981, Mirera 2007a). Prawn culture flourished but was not able to sustain itself at the end of the FAO project period.

It is with great pleasure and excitement that we announce that on November 7, 2018, all requirements for formation of the African Chapter, WAS were completed and the WAS Board voted the African Chapter into official status. This result follows much hard work by many people and organizations after the African Chapter concept developed initial momentum during World Aquaculture 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa.

I began my aquaculture career as an aquaculture extension agent, working with smallholder rice farmers in Sierra Leone as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in the early 1980s. Later, through work in universities, I came to know the extension approach of the US Land Grant College system. The basic process of the system involves farmers telling extension agents their problems, agents carrying that information back to the university to share with experiment station workers. Those research scientists would then develop solutions for the farmers’ problems and the extension agent would carry the results and recommendations back to the farmers. Simply put, extension is the delivery of information to farmers.