By Conrad Mwanawashe, Kadoma
ZIMBABWE has been recognised as one of the countries with a fast-growing fisheries and aquaculture sector as a result of government setting up a department to spearhead the development of the sector, according to the recent 15th Malabo Montpellier Forum.
“This recognition signifies that, despite being in our infancy, we’re on the right track. The international recognition was only possible through the availability of data from the sector, which highlights the importance of having accurate and up-to-date information on the state of aquaculture in Zimbabwe,” according to Mr Milton Makumbe, Director for Fisheries and Aquaculture Resources Production Department, in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development.
“This reiterates the need for us to be constantly informed about the sector’s developments, so we can guide policy decisions from an informed position.”
Mr Makumbe was addressing a National Aquaculture Sector Survey Results Dissemination Workshop in Kadoma, Wednesday. The workshop was attended by stakeholders in the sector including financial institutions, private sector suppliers and government officials.
Part of the National Aquaculture Sector Survey was conducted in 2024, with the primary objective of collecting data on the current state of aquaculture in Zimbabwe.
To date, the survey has been carried out in five provinces, namely Manicaland, Masvingo, Midlands, Matabeleland North, and Matabeleland South.
“Regarding our future plans, we are optimistic about securing funding through FISH4ACP to extend the survey to the Mashonaland Provinces this year, which will enable us to gain a comprehensive understanding of the aquaculture sector across the entire country,” Makumbe added.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), under the FISH4ACP Countries project, provided the technical and financial support for the survey.
FAO also commended government for putting in place the fisheries and aquaculture department which has led to a concrete coordinated and inclusive effort to improve people’s livelihoods in the sector.
“One good thing with fish farming, is that you can scale it up unlike capture fisheries where catches are declining worldwide, and the reverse is true with aquaculture. Aquaculture production is increasing annually. This spells out the resilience of aquaculture despite the climate change being witnessed everywhere. We all have the duty of making our farming practices more sustainable for the posterity anchored by our mantra, better production, better nutrition, better life and better environment,” said Mr Paul Mwera, FAO Fisheries expert.
FISH4ACP is an initiative of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (DACPS) to support sustainable fisheries and aquaculture development. The five-year value chain (VC) development program (2020-2025) is implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with funding from the European Union (EU) and the Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
FISH4ACP seeks to promote investments into fisheries and aquaculture value chains with the goal of stimulating inclusive growth, poverty reduction and improving food and nutrition security, while at the same time ensuring the sustainability of marine and aquatic resources.
The survey’s findings are expected to provide the Fisheries Department with a comprehensive understanding of the current state of aquaculture in Zimbabwe, including: farmer distribution patterns to ensure targeted support and resources, identifying challenges in distributing quality aquaculture inputs, to improve the overall efficiency of the sector, and highlighting opportunities for fish farmers to expand their market reach and improve logistics, to enhance service provision and boost economic growth.
“People say figures do not lie. The data and findings to be presented, shared and validated by the stakeholders is our reference point in describing our sector. We will measure ourselves based on changes in these figures going forward. The data is important to the farmer, development Agencies and Policy makers. We all need this valuable information to inform our practices,” Mr Mwera said.
