As the world Aquaculture conference held in Uganda drawing over  2000 local and global delegates kicked off in Kampala last week, a team of international delegates and local science journalists embarked of field tour to Jinja on fact finding of the first ever Tilapia fish factory  in the country.

The factory construction work nearing completion with production work to kick off early next month is good news to aquaculture farmers in the country and East Africa.

Farmers across the country practicing aquaculture fish farming are faced with the challenge of quality fish feed as well and high price challenge because most of the feed are imported from other parts of the world.

For farmers to achieve quality fish growth in their ponds, there is need to provide quality feed to the fish at all times.  This was the concern of most experts and stakeholders who attended the conference.

What is aquaculture and its background in Uganda?

Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic organisms, including fish in controlled aquatic environments. It's essentially farming in water and the controlled environment which can be a pond, river, lake and ocean referred to cage fish farming or even closed systems on land

The Aquaculture Conference held in Uganda was hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) department of fisheries under the leadership of State Minister for fisheries Hellen Adoa.

The conference held under the theme Aquaculture on the Rise” draw participants from fifty eight countries across the globe.

It was convened by the World Aquaculture Society and partners across the globe with the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) as key funders and other development partners promoting aquaculture farming across the country including Uganda such as True Fish and European Union among others.

The World Aquaculture Society (WAS) was founded in 1969 as the World Mariculture Society.

Its membership has since expanded to over 3,000 across more than 100 countries.

In order to meet the expanding needs of this international diversity, the WAS has created the Chapters that represent each continent such as the  United States, Japan, Korea, Latin American and Caribbean region including Asian-Pacific region.

The overall objective of WAS as a network, is to bring together all the aquaculture value-chain stakeholders world-wide to share information and experiences and practice excellence through science, technology, education and information exchange.

The Director of Buginyanya Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute (BugiZaRDI) Dr. Nasser Kasozi explained that aquaculture in Uganda has been practiced for 84 years now.

It was started in 1941 by the colonial British administration and in 1950 the team established the National Fisheries Resource Research Institute (NaFIRRI)Aquaculture Research and development center Kanjansi.

It was mainly for farming catfish and Tilapia and in 2010, research work began with the hatchery unit and feed mill.

The aquaculture fish farming has grown with Uganda now producing 130,000 metric tons annually.

Most farmers practicing aquaculture and tilapia farming need access to improved seed 

They access fish seed which includes eggs and fingerlings from dedicated fish seed producers like Ssenya Fish Farms. 

These specialized farms produce and supply various fish species like tilapia, catfish, and carp fingerlings.

Additionally, farmers may also obtain seed from other sources like farmer-to-farmer exchange, government stations and through support from NGOs and farmer groups. 

However famers are faced with the challenge in accessing quality fish seed and feed.

Njeru Aquaculture feed factory

The commercial manager of the company namely De DeusIvo Van Derlee noted that the company which is Dutch founded observed that Aquaculture is experiencing rapid growth in Uganda therefore the need to address the feed gap.

He notes that the success of fish farming relies on precisely formulated and properly administered feeds in the given conditions.

Every farm has its unique setup, demanding appropriate feeds that align with the chosen culture strategy.

De Heus comprehends these nutritional requirements and offers species-specific aqua feed solutions tailored to different species, culture methods and environmental condition.

The company has over 90 production sites in over 20 countries with the latest being Uganda. Its products are distributed in 72 countries across the globe.

The country has already been in operation in Uganda but dealing in imported fish feed from its productions in other countries.

It has invested over 22,000 million Euros to construct the factory in Njeru, Jinja specifically for production of Tilapia fish feed.

The beauty is that management has started stocking raw materials which are sourced from organised farmer groups across the country.

They include maize barn, soy bean bran, sun flower cake, silver fish crushed powder mix , blood meal and minerals from crushed animal bones among others.

Quality Control

The quality control manager Damali Abbo explained that for farmers to access quality fish feed, her team tests for quality of the raw materials right at the delivery entrance.

The materials must much with Uganda National Bureau of Standards as well as prescribed International Standards.

Suppliers must ensure that the raw materials are dried well a case in point of Maize is that the acceptable moisture content is 12% or less  and for soybean is 10% or less.

The team has a lab where they conduct sample preparations where the test for gravity of the wetness of the material, stones and pests

The tests are computerized and results are shared with the team in the Netherlands.

How the test is done is that a maize flour is put on a plate under a detecting machine which will show the results instantly. The same is conducted once the feed is formulated to test nutritional ingredients and the tested samples are stored for future reference.

Other tests include testing if the pellets are floating or sinking under water if fed to the fish in the ponds.

The requirement is that fish pellets must be floating at all times especially for Juvenile and mature Tilapia which do not feed beneath the water but the shrimp fish species the feed must sink because the feed under water.

For day one fish fingerlings feeds are formulated in powder form.

Production process

The plant manager Robert Kanyembo explained that the factory operates on locally produced energy using available biomas such as rice husks, cow dung and wood dust.

The heat is directed to a boiler which contains water and the steam passes through a pipe to the production line of the feed. It is the steam which will dry the feed

Previously the company was importing Koudijs is a well-known and trusted animal feed brand in Uganda.

Supporting livestock and aqua farmers to reach high and consistent results through concentrates, starter feeds and practical farming advice.

Koudijs is the main export brand of Royal De Heus, also known as De Heus Animal and fish Nutrition.

The high quality concentrates and premium starter feeds are imported from specialized production locations in Europe and Asia.

The production which kicks off this month is quantified to be 100,000 metric tons per annum. This includes half of the amount as maize bran and soy beans.

Performance of the fish sector

The vice president noted that she is aware that all Ugandans enjoy consuming fish.

The country is endowed with various fish species namely among others Tilapia, Nile Perch, Lung fish, silver fish and Alestes baremoze fish species commonly known as Angara fish.

This she says calls for intentional strategy to practice aquaculture as a business because in the past fish farmers considered fish farming as subsistence mainly to provide food in homes.

For the sector to thrive, there is need to consolidate efforts towards regional and continental market integration.

She said the East African Community has expanded with the addition of countries like Burundi, Somalia, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This is important for building common strong ground for advocacy and full utilization of Uganda’s natural resources.

She contends that government has put in regulatory policies and measures on major lakes which caused increased fish production totalling to 658,000 metric tons per annum worthy 14.7 million US dollars with 12 fish factories processing fish for export.

Aquaculture fish production annually is 130,000 metric tons but with a potential of 1million metric tons per annum if farmers adopt best practices

Climate change challenges and mitigation

Minister Adoa called upon Ugandan fish farmers to adhere to good fishing practices to avoid challenges arising from climate change.

Due to climate change there are erratic rain seasons that wash all contaminants into fish ponds and water bodies meaning farmers must keep cleaning ponds and avoid contaminating water bodies to cause pollution.

She notes that the challenge of fish farmers accessing quality feed and fish fingerlings is being addressed with the private sector coming in to set up feed factories.

The Country director of GIZ James Macbeth Forbes noted that all countries across the globe depend on fish as food and nutrition. Fish farming from capture fish is not enough the reason partners must invest in promoting aquaculture fish farming to increase its output.

He called upon farmers in Uganda to engage in aquaculture fish farming as a business for earning income.