Aquaculture plays a crucial role in enhancing food security in Africa and holds significant potential for becoming more effective and sustainable. However, the region’s fed aquaculture sector faces challenges in accessing or developing the capacity to produce high-quality aquafeeds. According to the FAO Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture (GSA), key recommendations on aquafeed include diversifying ingredient sources, developing feed formulations and processing capacities, and improving on-farm feed and feeding management practices for greater efficiency. To better understand the current situation in Africa, the FAO, in collaboration with WorldFish, organized the “Expert Workshop on Local Alternative Ingredients, Aquafeed Supply, and Feeding Management” in Egypt in 2023. This workshop brought together experts from nine African countries - Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia - to discuss local alternative ingredients, aquafeed supply, and feeding management in the region. The workshop also included participation from governmental agencies, universities, development organizations, private industry, and farmers from the region.
A pre-workshop questionnaire was used by experts to collect information on feed ingredient suppliers, feed manufacturers and current feeding management practices in order to gain a better understanding of the situation in the respective countries and to identify opportunities for future improvements. The analysis of the nine country reports, along with the discussions held during the workshop identified several key issues: i) limited access to information on alternative feed ingredients, both in terms of availability and accessibility); ii) poor feed preparation, processing, handling, and storage at the farm level; iii) inadequate monitoring of on-farm feeding and farm performances; iv) insufficient investment and operating capital for small-scale feed producers and farmers; v) limited knowledge and skills among farmers and extension workers on improved farm-made feed production, feeding management, and farm performances; vi) poor feed quality and inconsistent availability; and vii) a lack of appropriate legal and policy frameworks necessary for sustainable aquaculture development, including the regulation of quality aquafeed manufacturing. The workshop recommended establishing a regional collaborative program to enhance the technical capacity of small- and medium-scale feed producers and provide farmers with necessary technical support to improve nutrition, feeding management, and overall productive performance, thereby increasing the efficiency of aquaculture production.