Human resource and capacity development in African aquaculture have received much attention and funding in the last 30 years particularly at international and national policy levels. Yet, a documented, representative evidence-base, including the voices, words, opinions and recommendations of those working in and depending on education and training across sub-Saharan Africa at all levels has been lacking . The main objective of this UKRI KTN- funded NACARDA project was to provide a previously unavailable understanding of the education and training needs of those working in and related to aquaculture and fisheries across different stakeholder groups. The study was based in three regional African hubs: Ghana , Kenya, and Malawi, as representative countries of west, east and southern Africa respectively . These countries also represent various stages of commercial aquaculture and associated value chain development.
I nformal key informant interviews were used to identify the key areas and issues surrounding human resource needs in Africa. These were then used to inform and formulate research questions and survey design for a widely disseminated online survey. Respondents included employers and employees from private, academia/research (university and vocational including students), NGO, and government sectors. Across all stakeholder groups, respondents expressed a strong need for more practical hands-on experience for their potential employees, more short-courses accessible to current employees, and more training on finance, small scale business development/entrepreneurship, fish health, and data collection and analysis. Respondents also indicated a need for mobile-accessible IT resources for communication and learning across sectors and roles. Private sector highlighted shortcomings in and need for overhaul and rationalisation of government extension services, as well as lack of relevant part time, day-release and online education and training for their existing staff, many of whom are secondary school leavers. Some also questioned the necessary skillsets of new aquaculture graduates to go into farm / business management positions. The NGO sector indicated difficulties recruiting the quality of staff they were looking for from specific aquaculture graduates, whilst some government staff extolled the benefits from being sent overseas for different levels of longer and shorter education and training . A number of respondents attributed their current career success to previous work experience and the continual support and influence of mentors. As such, a follow-up survey was conducted to characterize and better understand successful mentorship relationships with in the African aquaculture sector.
Based on these findings, a list was generated of costed, realistic, timebound recommendations for future interventions/activities which can result in concrete impacts, including further supporting and developing successful mentorships and improving education and training across all sectors. Aquaculture is still a nascent but now growing food production sector across Africa. We hope that by providing such an evidence base, the different stakeholder groups involved can better shape and deliver the appropriate education and training in order to fulfil the undoubted potential for aquaculture across the continent.