Feasibility Study to Design, Cost and Operationalise Model Commercial Aquaculture Parks in Uganda Uganda

DG EuropeAid Cooperation - Project Dates:
October 2012 - December 2012

Description of Project:
With capture fisheries at, or exceeding the Maximum Sustainable Yields (MSY) of Uganda's lakes, aquaculture presents the most promising way to address future increase in demand for fish in the East African region and for export. In Uganda, fish production from aquaculture has grown from 285 Mt. in 1999 to over 50,000 Mt. by the end of 2007. This has resulted from the emergence of more progressive and profit -oriented fish farmers as well as the market availability of commercial quality fish feed. The aquaculture sector currently supports up to 21,000 farmers and an estimated 200,000 livelihoods. However, most of the production is for domestic consumption purposes, rather than export trade.

The overall objective of this assignment was to contribute to the development of fish farming in Uganda. The specific objectives were to:

1. To propose the adaptation of Aquaculture Parks (APs) concept into Uganda's context;

2. To the assess the suitability (design, cost and operating) of the APs concept in Uganda at two sites to be availed by the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry & Fisheries (MAAIF).

3. To assess the market for Uganda's aquaculture products at the National, Regional and International level.

Services Provided:

A three-person Poseidon team considered the tilapia production (mainly lake based/cages)1 and catfish production (mainly land -based-ponds/river sites)

An important component of the techno-economic feasibility study was to clearly identify the respective roles of the State, Development Partners and the Private Sector in terms of their specific responsibilities in the support of the operationalisation of the two value chains . They then developed detailed feasibility studies using the APs models – one for each of the two proposed species of catfish and tilapia.