Aquaculture's unrealised potential: an ASARECA funded partnership learning programme for the fisheries sector

Abstract

The potential of aquaculture to reduce poverty and hunger has been recognised in Africa. However, growth in the sector has been limited up-to-now, providing less than 2% of total fish production. In Eastern and Central Africa, the slow growth has been caused by a number of factors, including a development focus on resource poor farmers rather than small and medium enterprises, a lack of focus on the entire fish value chain (feed, seed, processing and marketing), as well as weak governance and policy environments. Under a project funded by the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), five partner organizations are working together to look not only at fish production, but also beyond the fish farm to help enable the aquaculture sector in the region to reach its potential to reduce poverty and hunger.