Cote d’Ivoire, which imports between “CFA300 billion and CFA400 billion” of fish per year, wants to fill the gap with innovative aquaculture models.
“Imports of fish are estimated at between 300 and 400 billion CFA francs per year, which is a significant outflow of foreign currency,” said Kalilou Camara, head of the monitoring and evaluation department of the national component of the Fish4ACP Project coordination unit on Wednesday.
Mr. Camara was speaking during a visit to an above-ground recirculating water aquaculture system in Abatta, east of Abidjan, as part of the Fish4ACP Project, implemented by the FAO, and aimed at developing improved business models in the fish farming sector.
With this system, FAO wants to help Côte d’Ivoire promote innovative aquaculture models.
Today, fish farms in the country are at a rate of over 90 percent and the organization wants to encourage other practices for self-sufficiency.
“Over the next five years, we would like to reach a production of 150,000 tons per year, from 2022 to 2026,” said Mr. Kalilou Camara, head of the monitoring and evaluation department of the national component of the Fish4ACP Project coordination unit.
The need to cover fisheries resources at the national level is 500,000 tons, said Mr. Kalilou Camara.
Côte d’Ivoire wants to reach 150,000 tons per year to fill its deficit.
The ten-year strategy to upgrade the tilapia aquaculture value chain adopted by the stakeholders of the value chain with the technical support of the FISH4ACP Program provides in its first axis the sustainable intensification of production.
It also provides for the expansion of current fish farmers’ farms through the professionalization of trades, access to appropriate financing and access to quality inputs in all aquaculture regions as well as the promotion of more efficient and formal production systems, adapted to local conditions.
The state, he reveals, plans “the de-taxation of inputs and feeds (with) partnerships that are already in place to facilitate accessibility and availability in each major region of Cote d’Ivoire.”
“The tax exemption will cover inputs, feed, equipment, brood stock,” said Camara, adding that the government will support the fisheries industry to experiment with new technologies.
Mrs. Mariam Fofana, a restaurant owner, who has welcomed fish farmers to her site, has added aquaculture to her portfolio.
She practices above ground aquaculture with the recirculated water system.
In water retention tanks, Mrs. Fofana grows the fish from larvae to a marketable state.
Above ground, there is the electricity to be ensured, but today she says she is “satisfied” to have in less than a year made profitable her investment estimated at CFA10 million.
She shared her experiences with more than twenty fish farmers from different regions of Côte d’Ivoire as part of the Fish4ACP Project.
Ms. Fofana, a passionate fish farmer, explained the recycled water system, where water is continuously filtered.
It produces a capacity of 8 tons per year or 4 tons per six-month cycle, 600 g market size tilapia.
Tilapia, which is very popular in Cote d’Ivoire, is easy to grow because it lives in freshwater and is not very prone to diseases.
Mrs. Traore Djire, national coordinator, said that the objective of the Fish4ACP Program, aims to develop the potential of fisheries in Cote d’Ivoire and increase national production to reach in 10 years about 70,000 tons.
Through this program, the FAO is trying to promote new production systems.
Today, the most practiced farming system is pond farming.
The Fish4ACP Program, implemented by the FAO, is financed by the European Union and the German government to the tune of $55 million.
Cote d’Ivoire was selected for its tilapia aquaculture value chain.
The Fish4ACP Program (implementation in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific) which started in 2020 was launched in 2021.
AP/cgd/fss/as/APA