Globally, aquaculture plays a crucial role in meeting the rising global demand for aquatic foods of an expanding world population expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. Aquaculture was first introduced to Africa over 50 years ago. Africa’s aquaculture sector is the fastest growing in the world at 11% annually. However, its contribution to global aquaculture production is still relatively low (less than 3% in 2022). In 2022, sub-Saharan Africa’s (SSA) aquaculture sector contributed less than 1% to global aquaculture production. Although Africa has experienced improvements in public infrastructure such as transportation and roads, access to communication by phones and internet, and an increased supply of education and health care in the production areas, many countries still face challenges. Challenges such inadequate public and private investment on aquaculture infrastructure for research, training, and extension, limited access to quality inputs (seeds and feeds, insufficient technical and managerial capacity; weak value chain development; limited access to loans for small- and medium-scale farmers, poor market access and linkages, ineffective governance, and climate change impacts, need to be addressed.
The aquaculture sector needs an holistic approach departing from broader rural and peri-urban development. The new FAO Guidelines for Sustainable Aquaculture (GSA), developed by FAO and its Members, serve as a tool to guide policy processes, decision-making and action at all levels - local, national, regional and global. GSA highlighted an adaptable framework, designed to address the challenges posed by the rapid growth of the aquaculture sector, supporting its sustainable expansion and intensification in alignment with the 2021 COFI Declaration for Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture and enable aquaculture to contribute effectively to the 2030 Agenda.
The GSA enable a broader framework in guiding the sustainable aquaculture in terms of governance and policy, planning, natural resources management, on-farm management, social responsibilities and value chain development. The implementation of the GSA help to mitigate the challenges at the national and regional level, and strengthen the capacity in good aquaculture practices, investment and focus on the sustainability of the sector, and share good practices across nations, regional and global level. As requested by Members, FAO is engaged in mainstreaming the GSA into global, regional and national policies and strategic frameworks in close collaboration with both Members and key stakeholders.