WWW.WA S .ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • JUNE 2022 29 ( C O N T I N U E D O N P A G E 3 0 ) around R15/kg (US$1/kg) before sales to a dedicated processing plant serving four 5,000 t/yr grow-out farms (THAPI AquaKulcha 2021b). Marine Tilapia Farming in South Africa: A Niche Market Opportunity or the Answer to Food Insecurity? It is no secret that food-insecure households in South Africa are finding it increasingly difficult to put affordable animal protein sources into their daily dietary regimes, not least because of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising food prices. Excluding tinned pilchards, around 2005-2006, broiler chickens took the crown frommarine capture fisheries to become the leastcost animal protein source in the country. This is despite the large price spreads, ranging from 50-100 percent, between the largescale producer cost at the base of the broiler chicken value chain and that of the supermarket retail price, hovering around R45-55/ kg (VAT inclusive) in 2021 for frozen dressed birds in recent times (THAPI Aqua-Kulcha 2021a). Although there appears to be economic opportunity for small- to medium-scale broiler producers, despite higher feed, abattoir and other input costs for direct retailing to consumers, by-passing the formal value chain. Using the small-scale producer cost model, our estimate puts the ex-abattoir cost of broilers at R29-31/kg of live bird (THAPI Aqua-Kulcha 2021a). We used R30.22/kg of live bird following added abattoir costs converted to an edible meat yield at 46.1 percent in Figure 6. Beef, lamb and pork cannot compete with the price of broilers and as such these animal protein sources were excluded from the most appropriate cost comparison to establish the food security value proposition of the various animal protein sources brought to an edible meat yield basis. Figure 6 provides an account of the whole weight and edible meat yield pricing of broiler chickens (small-scale, farm-consumer sales), Cape hake, tinned pilchards (net or drained weight, brought to 1 kg) and that of marine-farmed tilapia using a large-scale BFT approach (THAPI Aqua-Kulcha 2021a). Figure 6 indicates that a large-scale marine tilapia industry could provide consumers in the rural Eastern Cape and KwaZuluNatal with affordable fish at R37.76/kg edible meat yield, offering unrivaled food security impact potential. That is about half the cost of Cape hake (R75.18/kg) and less than two-thirds of the cost of tinned pilchards (R65.08/kg) and less than two-thirds of the cost of broiler chickens (R65.56/kg), all on an edible meat yield pricing basis (Figure 6) (THAPI Aqua-Kulcha 2021a). The current tilapia farming production philosophy based upon the use of intensive pond farming and Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) and complete extruded aquatic feeds at a cost of R14.00/kg for a 28-32 percent protein grower feed, puts the farm-gate, break-even production cost in the R28/kg (best case) and R35/kg (worst case) producer price range, which is then uncompetitive against largescale broiler producer costs (ca. R21-23/kg, SAPA 2019) at the base of the value chain, also the preferred meat choice nationally. Clearly winning the substitution challenge when the farm-gate, break-even producer costs are much above R20/kg for farmed tilapia on a live-weight basis is a tall order, offering little merit as an affordable alternative meat protein targeting food insecure households in rural and urban South Africa. The major cost drivers and challenges confronting the fledgling tilapia farming sector in South Africa are 1) high feed cost (> R14/ kg for 28-32 percent protein grower rations), 2) sub-optimal water temperatures most of the year (Fig. 8) due to the poor location of FIGURE 6. 2021 pre-VAT whole weight and edible meat yield pricing estimates in R/kg for Cape hake, Pilchards (in a tin, net weight, brought to kg), marine tilapia and broiler chickens. 1. Cape hake (kg whole) and pilchards (in a tin, kg whole weight) brought to 2021 pricing at a price escalation of 8.9% and 7.9% y-o-y respectively. First-tier wholesale prices (exfishing company) brought to second tier wholesaler pricing via 22%mark-up (least-cost, online wholesaler found). 2. Small-scale broiler chickens adjusted for inflation using a 2% y-o-y price escalation over 2019-2021 to bring 2019 pricing to 2021 based upon first-tier wholesale pricing for direct sales to consumers. 3. Marine tilapia sold to rural Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal consumers applying a first-tier wholesale approach including processing and distribution costs within an 80 km radius ex-processing plant via farm shops and mobile refrigerated trailers. 4. Edible meat yield pricing based upon 60% edible meat yield for Cape hake, 100% for pilchards (small-whole fish in tin), 57.6% for tilapia and 46.1% for broiler chickens. FIGURE 7. Comparative feed use, nutrient recovery efficiency and feed cost per unit of edible meat yield in BFT and RAS/pond-grown tilapia vs. broiler chickens. Note: Edible meat yield in tilapias is not the same as fillet yield. Edible meat yield includes skins and all edible portions (see Sahu et al. 2017)
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