Sustainable and accessible fish feeds for small-scale fish farmers Aquaculture is the fastest growing food producing sector in the world, providing critical sources of income and nutrition Key messages for millions of small-scale fish farmers and their communities.1 Access to sustainable and affordable fish feeds is a key • Improving feed accessibility for small-scale determinant for productive and profitable aquaculture. fish farmers is crucial to the inclusive growth of aquaculture. Globally, aquaculture feeds rely on forage fish (anchovies, • “Nutritious pond feeds” nourish the farmed fish herring, sardines) as a source of essential nutrients, and the pond organisms that help break down using almost one-third of the global fish catch. fish wastes and produce natural food for the fish. Small-scale fish farmers in Africa and Asia generally produce Their ingredient composition makes them herbivorous or omnivorous tilapia, carp and catfish in less expensive than conventional feeds while ponds, and while the inclusion of forage fish-derived maintaining or increasing fish production in a ingredients in their feeds is low, in total these species are healthy pond environment. still large consumers of forage fish.2 Conventional fish feeds also remain inaccessible to many small-scale fish farmers • Local, underused and inexpensive agricultural because of prohibitive costs. This is particularly true for co-products can be effectively used as fish women and youth in the sector, who often have less income, feed ingredients, thereby reducing dependency fewer assets and greater barriers when accessing inputs. on ingredients that can be directly consumed by humans. Improving the social, economic and environmental • The FeedCalculator mobile phone application equips sustainability of fish feeds and feeding practices for tilapia, carp small-scale feed millers and farmers to formulate and catfish will enhance aquaculture’s contribution to poverty nutritious pond feeds from local ingredients. reduction and food and nutrition security. For this reason, Wageningen University developed the innovative concept of nutritious pond feeds3 and partnered with WorldFish to study Skretting Egypt. Three main objectives were developed to locally available ingredients for use in feeds. The research is improve small-scale farmers’ access to sustainable fish feeds based in Bangladesh, China, Costa Rica, Egypt, France, India, and feeding practices: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Vietnam and Zambia, in cooperation with small-scale farmers and commercial 1. Develop nutritious pond feeds for tilapia that increase feed companies Aller Aqua Zambia, Royal de Heus Asia and farm productivity and profitability, enhance natural food production in the pond, and pollute less. 1 [FAO] Food and Agriculture Organization. 2018. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018: Meeting the sustainable development goals. Rome: FAO. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. 2 Froehlich HE, Jacobsen NS, Essington TE, Clavelle T and Halpern BS. 2018. Avoiding the ecological limits of forage fish for fed aquaculture. Nature Sustainability 1:298–303. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0077-1 3 Nutritious pond feeds are dual purpose feeds formulated to feed the farmed species and provide a balanced nutrient composition to the pond’s food web. In doing so, nutrient-rich wastes resulting from fish feeding (e.g. fish feces, uneaten feed) are converted by other pond organisms (e.g. bacteria, plankton, protozoa) into natural food sources that nourish the farmed species, which increases the retention of fed nutrients in the farmed species and reduces nutrient accumulation in the pond. See Table 1 for further information about ingredient and nutrient composition of nutritious pond feeds. Photo credit: Saikat Mandal Tanu/WorldFish 2. Identify locally available ingredients for inclusion in can be sourced from inexpensive and often locally available pelleted fish feeds that provide sustainable, accessible ingredients, which reduce feed costs while maintaining alternatives to forage fish and other ingredients that could or increasing fish production, thereby raising profits. otherwise be directly consumed by humans. On-farm research in Bangladesh shows that nutritious pond 3. Create tools to integrate knowledge of locally available feeds increase tilapia production by stimulating natural food feed ingredients in nutritious pond feeds and disseminate production. In combination with the lower cost of nutritious them to fish farmers. pond feeds, farm income increased 22 percent as compared to The research was carried out using genetically improved tilapia a conventional tilapia feed.5 Intermediate results from ongoing to develop better management practices around fish feeds farm trials in Zambia comparing conventional and nutritious and feeding systems that help farmers realize the maximum pond feeds from Aller Aqua have revealed similar outcomes, productive potential of their fish. with great promise for small-scale fish farmers across Africa and Asia. Research innovations in fish feeds and feeding practices Local ingredients increase availability and accessibility of feeds Nutritious pond feeds nourish the food web The use of local ingredients to formulate fish feeds can reduce Over the past two decades, improved understanding of fish reliance on often expensive or imported ingredients that may nutrition have resulted in the development of commercially compete with direct human use, like fishmeal and fish oil or produced, nutritionally complete fish feeds. These feeds soya, while increasing feed accessibility to small-scale farmers. are formulated to meet the nutrient requirements of the Local ingredients can also be readily used to formulate farmed species but also lead to nutrient-rich fish wastes nutritious pond feeds to further increase farm productivity and that, when released, contribute to pollution in water profitability. This has implications for improved livelihoods, bodies. Conventional feeds also typically account for 30 to food and nutrition security, and climate change mitigation. 70 percent of production costs,4 making them unavailable to many small-scale farmers across Africa and Asia. To identify inexpensive, largely underused ingredients with year-round availability, WorldFish surveyed literature, Nutritious pond feeds, in contrast, nourish both the farmed agricultural databases and stakeholders, including fish species and other pond organisms, like bacteria, plankton farmers, feed manufacturers, ingredient suppliers and other and protozoa, to stimulate the pond’s inherent capacity to feed experts, across Bangladesh, Egypt, Malaysia, Myanmar, break down fish wastes and produce natural foods for fish. Nigeria and Zambia. Fifteen ingredients, including banana Nutritious pond feeds have more carbohydrates, which and cassava peels, cocoa husks, palm kernel cakes, rice and fish only partially digest. Once passed, the carbohydrates maize bran and soldier fly meal, were identified and analyzed provide energy for bacteria to break down fish wastes and to determine how well genetically improved tilapia used any uneaten feed and release nutrients into the pond. the nutrients. With Skretting Egypt, we continue to assess Other organisms metabolize these nutrients to grow and novel ingredients across Africa and Asia, including algae, multiply, becoming nutritious food sources for the farmed aquatic plants, fish processing co-products, food loss,6 insects species and reducing nutrient accumulation in the pond. and worms, that can be used to formulate sustainable and The high levels of carbohydrates in nutritious pond feeds accessible fish feeds, including nutritious pond feeds. 4 Boyd CE, D’Abramo LR, Glencross BD, Huyben DC, Juarez LM, Lockwood GS, McNevin AA, Tacon AGJ, Teletchea F, Tomasso JR Jr et al. 2020. Achieving sustainable aquaculture: Historical and current perspectives and future needs and challenges. Journal of the World Aquaculture Society 51:578–633. https://doi.org/10.1111/jwas.12714 5 Kabir KA, Verdegem MCJ, Verreth JAJ, Phillips MJ and Schrama JW. 2019. Effect of dietary protein to energy ratio, stocking density and feeding level on performance of Nile tilapia in pond aquaculture. Aquaculture 511:634200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2019.06.014 6 Food loss refers to any food that is disposed of along the food supply chain from production (e.g. harvest, slaughter, catch) up to, but excluding, retail and does not reenter the food supply chain in any other productive use, such as feed or seed. Photo credit: Filip Milovac/WorldFIsh Photo credit: Mike Lusmore/WorldFIsh In collaboration with the Technologies for African Agricultural The FeedCalculator app equips small-scale feed millers Transformation program, the ingredient information has been used to train feed millers and fish farmers, and farmers to make sustainable and affordable feeds one-quarter of whom are women, across Africa on local Findings regarding nutritious pond feeds and local feed ingredients in fish feed formulation. We have also partnered ingredients are integrated into the FeedCalculator, an open with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture to access feed formulation app. The FeedCalculator can be used identify locally available ingredients in the Democratic by feed millers and farmers worldwide to develop recipes for Republic of Congo and evaluate their performance in fish fish feeds using local and affordable ingredients. feeds—the findings of which are spurring investment in commercial feed mills in support of local fish farmers. Work is ongoing to develop regional language versions of the app that include relevant local ingredients. Such a version is However, a shift to using local ingredients in fish feeds and the now available in Bangladesh and training sessions have reached development of related businesses may have uneven reach 55 feed millers and farmers to date, with the goal that they or benefits, placing some social groups, especially women will disseminate this knowledge through their networks. The and youth, at risk. For example, women may feed rice bran FeedCalculator can equip small-scale feed millers and farmers with to their poultry and peels to their small livestock as their only the technical knowledge needed to design local fish feeds, but income source, so diverting agricultural co-products from wider use is dependent on assessing barriers to access or use. their current use may cause women undue financial risk. In partnership with Includovate, we are developing improved Scaling research innovations to improve productivity methods for needs and risk assessments to support the inclusive development and scaling of local feed ingredients. and profitability of small-scale aquaculture The integration of the ingredient information, including Policy and investment recommendations their chemical composition and nutrient digestibility, To fully contribute to national goals for inclusive, equitable into an open access database will allow for wider and sustainable agri-food systems, sustainable feeds and access. Challenges of unequal access, which are often feeding practices must (i) be tailored to the needs of exacerbated for women and youth, will need to be farmers and other value chain actors, (ii) be accessible and addressed through targeted interventions, including more affordable for poor and marginalized groups, including tailored training and improved access to technology. women and youth, and (iii) strengthen the circular economy without competing with food for direct human In addition to the valorization of local, underused ingredients consumption. To support the sustained adoption of in fish feeds, strengthened integration of fish and crop nutritious pond feeds and integration of local ingredients production systems can also lower fish farming costs by small-scale farmers, we must priortizie the following: by reducing dependency on external inputs. Integrated production may also generate additional income streams • Strengthen farmer networks and co-develop and improve food and nutrition security by diversifying better management practices.7 Our efforts with the farm outputs. Food and Agriculture Organization, the Freshwater ple Exam Plate 1. The FeedCalculator app interface. 7 Joffre OM, De Vries JR, Klerkx L and Poortvliet PM. 2020. Why are cluster farmers adopting more aquaculture technologies and practices? The role of trust and interaction within shrimp farmers’ networks in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Aquaculture 523:735181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2020.735181 Fisheries Research Centre, and Bogor Agricultural including fish, crustaceans, molluscs and algae, are especially University to develop and package technical common. These systems are expected to respond differently guidance and tools require the support of national to changes in feeds or feeding practices, so the benefits governments and research institutes to ensure that associated with nutritious pond feeds and local feed ingredients the reach and benefits of this work are inclusive. must be verified and quantified for the range of species and systems commonly used by small-scale farmers. • Improve small-scale farmers’ access to fish feeds and technical advice through innovative • Sustainable feeds and feeding practices are expected financing models, targeted opportunities for capacity to contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation development, especially for women and youth, and efforts in aquaculture through increases in efficiency further exploration of novel feed ingredients. of feed use and reduced reliance on imported or intensively farmed feed ingredients. However, these • Ensure governments, private companies and research contributions still need to be validated and quantified. institutes address regulatory and technological barriers associated with use of local, underused ingredients to • To date, limited evidence exists on the links between appropriately scale research innovations. This may include sustainable feeds and feeding practices and the changing restrictions on using novel ingredients as fish nutritional value of fish to humans. However, the feed and building capacity to process ingredients. nutritional value of farmed fish can be modified through feeds,8 and preliminary indications are that access to natural Priority research frontiers foods in ponds, which is optimized with nutritious pond feeds, can improve the nutritional quality of farmed fish.9 Further research in the following areas will inform the development and dissemination of nutritious pond feeds Wageningen University, WorldFish and partners continue to and local feed ingredients by small-scale fish farmers: engage with national governments and aquaculture centers, small-scale feed millers and farmers, private companies and • Small-scale fish farmers use a variety of farming systems. research institutes to develop an enabling environment for the Polycultures of herbivorous and omnivorous species or the integration of nutritious pond feeds and local, underused feed integrated production of species from different trophic levels, ingredients in agri-food systems. 8 Kwasek K, Thorne-Lyman AL and Phillips M. 2020. Can human nutrition be improved through better fish feeding practices? A review paper. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 60:3822–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2019.1708698 9 Karapanagiotidis IT, Bell MV, Little DC, Yakupitiyage A and Rakshit SK. 2006. Polyunsaturated fatty acid content of wild and farmed tilapias in Thailand: Effect of aquaculture practices and implications for human nutrition. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 54:4304–10. https://doi.org/10.1021/jf0581877 Authors This is a contribution to the following: Marc Verdegem,1 Rodrigue Yossa,2 Killian Chary,1 Johan W Schrama,1 Malcolm C. M. Beveridge2 and Nisha Marwaha2 Affiliations 1 Wageningen University & Research 2 WorldFish Citation Acknowledgments This strategic brief is published by the CGIAR Research This publication should be cited as: Verdegem M, Yossa R, Program on Fish Agri-Food Systems (FISH), led by WorldFish Chary K, Schrama JW, Beveridge MCM and Marwaha N. in partnership with the International Water Management 2021. Sustainable and accessible fish feeds for small-scale Institute, Wageningen University & Research, James fish farmers. Penang, Malaysia: CGIAR Research Program Cook University and the University of Greenwich. FISH is on Fish Agri-Food Systems. Program Brief: FISH-2021-06. a multidisciplinary research for development program designed in collaboration with partners and stakeholders to develop and implement research innovations that enhance Creative Commons License the contribution of small-scale fisheries and aquaculture to reducing poverty, increasing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resource systems. Please visit fish.cgiar.org Content in this publication is licensed under a Creative for more information. Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International This brief is one in a series of synthesis products published License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits non-commercial in 2021 to share learnings, outcomes and impacts from use, including reproduction, adaptation and distribution of the FISH program. It is intended to stimulate actions and the publication provided the original work is properly cited. investments into fish and aquatic foods to realize their role in the transformation of food, land and water systems in a © 2021 CGIAR Research Program on Fish Agri-Food Systems. climate crisis. We extend thanks to all the contributors of this research and the reviewers of this brief.