Experts and stakeholders in Zimbabwe’s tilapia fish value chain convened for a multi-stakeholder partnership meeting at Lake Kariba to improve sector strategy performance and coordination.
The strategy, launched in 2022, aims to increase farmed Nile tilapia production from 5 600 to 14 000 tonnes per year in 2032, driven by better access to inputs, services, and markets for small-scale fish farmers. This increase would raise their yearly benefits from $5.6 million to $22 million in ten years.
Milton Makumbe, director in the department of fisheries and aquaculture at the ministry of lands, agriculture, fisheries, water and rural development, stated that :the value chain approach spearheaded by this project is the best as it promotes inclusiveness, economic growth, and environmental sustainability, as we grow the fish industry.”
The two-year sector-wide dialogue, analysis, and upgrading of Zimbabwe’s tilapia value chain resulted in the strategy, spearheaded by FISH4ACP, a global fish value chain development initiative of the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States implemented by FAO with funding from the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Gilles van de Walle, FISH4ACP chief technical advisor at FAO, stated that the objective of the partnership meeting is to review progress, refine and adapt the tilapia fish value chain development strategy. The meeting involved reviewing the current project multi-stakeholder governance structure and progress made so far vis-à-vis development of SMART activity plans.
Garikai Munatsirei, chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Fish Producers Association, expressed positivity towards the tilapia upgrading planned activities, stating that “if we all commit our time to make the working groups vehicles for change in the sector, they are going to transform the sector.”
The meeting resulted in the creation of the multi-stakeholder partnership “Aqua-allies” and three working groups on production, marketing, and regulation. The meeting closed with a consensus that Aqua-allies are the A-Team in tilapia value chain development in Zimbabwe.
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