FoodTechAfrica

Driving aquaculture growth in East Africa

FoodTechAfrica is improving food security through private sector development in East Africa.

  • Region: East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania)
  • Focus: Aquaculture sector (the full value chain including quality fish feeds, sustainable production and processing)
  • Start: 2011
  • Approach: Combining best practices in a Public Private Partnership, involving 17 project partners.

FoodTechAfrica

FoodTechAfrica is a public-private partnership of 17 companies and universities which improves food security in East Africa through the establishment of a fully integrated aquaculture value chain. Our exceptional journey started modestly in 2011 when a Kenyan farmer told us he could not make fish farming profitable for himself, and other farmers around him. He explained little fish was available on the local market. A surprise, a Kenya borders Lake Victoria which has been a source of fish for the region for centuries. However, lake Victoria’s output is declining sharply due to pollution, overfishing, and lack of regulation. The declining output is traditionally replaced by the import of fish. But Kenya and East Africa as a whole have excellent capabilities to produce local fish, for the local market. It just hadn’t been done at scale.

Project details

Growing demand for animal protein

East Africa is facing a growing demand for animal protein, due to:

  • A sharp growth in population;
  • Rising incomes;
  • Urbanisation;
  • Changes in food habits.
  • This results in increasing demand for sustainably produced, safe, nutritious and protein-rich food products.

Challenges

At present, local governments and markets are unable to meet this demand. This results in nutritional deficiency and shortages for a substantial part of the population and a lack of food security. Currently, several major challenges inhibit production increase within the fish value chain:

  • Lack of economies of scale and the absence of critical mass;
  • Insufficient access to high-quality inputs such as stocking material, fertilizer, feed and water;
  • Poor farm management;
  • Poor animal health management;
  • Lack of an integrated value chain including raw materials, inputs, primary production, processing, cold storage and distribution to (retail) markets;
  • Lack of local finance, costly debt funding, high transaction costs, commercial risks;
  • A challenging business environment (e.g. corruption, formalities, import duties).

Why aquaculture?

Fish is an efficient form of livestock in terms of

  • Water usage;
  • Feed conversion and
  • CO2 gas emissions
  • This sustainable source of animal protein offers substantial opportunities to improve food security.
  • Financially in reach of base of pyramid

Objective

The objective of FoodTechAfrica (FTA) is to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of a fully integrated value chain (fish) in East Africa by combining the strengths of Dutch agro-food companies (mainly SMEs), knowledge institutions, government and their African counterparts. This contributes to the development of local capacity through knowledge transfer, linking existing primary production processes and results in a positive spin-off in terms of higher production, productivity, improved infrastructure and technical capacity, more efficient markets and local entrepreneurship.

Targets
Indicators Targets
Number of jobs created More than 60
Number of people trained More than 450
Increased fish consumption 1kg additional of fish products per capita per year x 1.5 millionpeople in urban areas
Increased fish feed production More than 5,000 tonnes/year
Increased fingerling production No specific target defined
Increased fish production from aquaculture More than 1,000 tonnes/year
Increased fish processing 250 tonnes/year
Improved fish value chain Integrated fish value chain established
Improved ICSR* within the aquaculture sector ICSR risk analysis implemented


Support

Our project is supported by the Netherlands Government’s Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Food Security Facility (FDOV).

Results & media

Spinoff projects

Partners

Almex, Dinnissen, Fishion, Kamuthanga Farm, Holland Aqua, KMFRI, Lattice Consulting, Larive International, PTN, Nutreco, Ottevanger Milling Engineers, Unga Group, Viqon Water Solutions, Wageningen UR, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Wouter van Vliet

Managing director. The Netherlands

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