Farming fish for profits: A small step towards food security in sub-Saharan Africa

In addition to volatile fluctuations due to seasonal or regional factors, food security has two main components; access and availability. This paper presents a diagrammatical model to indicate how aquaculture, particularly private sector aquaculture, can contribute to these components of food security in sub-Sahara Africa. Food accessibility is increased when commercial aquaculture generates employment. Without such employment the poor might never translate their need for food into effective demand. Food availability is increased, either immediately when aquaculture output is sold in the domestic market, or later when the foreign exchange earned from aquaculture exports is used to import food. This paper does not argue that commercial aquaculture will eliminate poverty within sub-Sahara Africa. The sector is too marginal. However, it can be one "small step" among others. Moreover, driven by the private sector, commercial aquaculture does not need onerous public (or donor) funding. It therefore should not be ignored by policy-makers. At the local level the impact on communities can be dramatic. This is illustrated in the Kariba area of Zimbabwe, where commercial tilapia farms provide jobs and incomes in an impoverished region. These incomes enable workers and their families to purchase food. In addition the farms supply the local population with whole fish and fish heads, which are a source of protein. Some policy options are suggested to promote private investment in the sector, with an emphasis on polices that incur few government expenditures. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.