With a surge in domestic demand, and a bold new initiative, Burkina Faso has ambitious plans for its aquaculture. But can this land-locked African nation really achieve a 40-fold increase in fish production within a year?
As in many African countries, urban dwellers in Burkina Faso have caught the tilapia bug, big time. In most parts of the capital, Ouagadougou, and other big towns, customers can be found gathered at tilapia grill joints, patiently waiting their turn. Tilapia is a favourite item on the menus of hotels and restaurants, and patrons are prepared to pay over US$3 a kilo. Most of the tilapia consumed in the country is imported, however – despite a number of past aquaculture initiatives annual production has barely approached 500 tonnes.
However, thanks to an initiative led by SkyFox, a Ghanaian firm operating in several West African countries, Burkina Faso is expected to produce at least 20,000 tonnes by the end of 2020. And Dr Oliver Ujah, deputy CEO of the company, says that “production could hit higher figures in the next few years”.
Burkina Faso, a landlocked Sahelian country, has always faced problems with water scarcity. There are numerous small reservoirs, mainly in the central region, which were created to store water to support food production. The rainy season, from June to October, barely provides enough water. In the 1980s some sizeable dams were constructed, with reservoirs aimed at developing aquaculture. But these were mainly dormant until recently, when SkyFox entered into an agreement with the government.
“The SkyFox intervention,” says Dr Ujah, “has involved refurbishing
the reservoirs to support efficient fish farming. With the active
support of the relevant government agencies, we have put one reservoir
at Poa into production. The reservoirs at Bagré, Sebun and Zia will go
into production next year.
“Although the four reservoirs have
massive capacity, they were only doing very modest production figures
until the SkyFox intervention. Our interventions have involved some
re-engineering, but the major input that was lacking in the past was
technical expertise, which we have provided. Another major challenge was
quality feed. Presently, we are supplying feed from Ghana. But we are
refurbishing the feed plant at Bagré, which will provide quality feed
for all four projects. I can tell you that we are satisfied with the
results. By the close of next year, we expect to produce over 20,000
tonnes of tilapia.”
Over the past decades, many well-intentioned
aquaculture projects have been implemented in Burkina Faso, but they
have largely failed. Apart from their lack of relevance to the local
conditions, the skills and institutional framework were not there. Dr
Charles Biney, a water-resources expert and former director of the Volta
Basin Authority in Burkina Faso, is excited about this development, and
believes that it has many positive implications for the country.
“Burkinabes love tilapia. But the bulk of tilapia available is imported from different sources. It is great that they will now enjoy homegrown tilapia whose quality can be guaranteed, and the nation can save some precious foreign exchange. And in a country that has always been conscious of the need to maximise water use, it is good that this scarce resource is being put to profitable use,” he says.
Patrick Apoya, CEO of SkyFox, believes that aquaculture has the
potential of making a major contribution to Burkina Faso’s economy.
“The
aquaculture value chain is big. From input production and supply to
farming, to processing and marketing, this is a long chain that can
generate jobs for many young people, and profits for people in business.
Burkina Faso is well placed to export fish to its neighbours,
especially Mali and Niger, and to customers well beyond its borders,” he
says.
He believes that there are possibilities for reviewing many
reservoirs and fish farm projects that have not registered the desired
success. Many aquaculture projects have been installed by different
donor agencies over the past decades. Whilst these were well
intentioned, they failed mostly because they were unsuitable for the
environment, and often did not get any support from government.
“We
will take a look at them. It may be possible to bring some of them into
profitable production, perhaps in partnership with others,” he
reflects.
Increased local aquaculture production will certainly make a contribution to improvement in protein consumption. Currently, per-capita beef consumption is 8kg a year, while fish consumption is 3.5kg. In Burkina Faso’s southern neighbour, Ghana, per-capita consumption for beef is 9.2kg, whilst that for fish is 23kg. Gifty Brown, a Ghanaian businesswoman based in Burkina Faso, says that increased aquaculture production will make a big difference in the health of Burkinabes, especially young people.
“Fish is essential to the maintenance of balanced diet, but here it
is expensive. I have noticed some locally produced tilapia on the
market. With increased local production, ordinary people should be able
to afford it,” she says.
As in most African nations, Burkina
Faso’s population of 20 million is becoming increasingly urbanised, as
more young people move to the cities and towns in search of jobs. They
have already acquired a taste for tilapia. If current trends are
anything to go by, tilapia will reward them handsomely in several ways.
For example, in the process of producing fish feed, maize and other
inputs, farmers will be able to find better markets for their produce.
And it could instill a more effective approach to water management in
the country.
As Patrick Apoya says: “A major plank of SkyFox’s
operations is to help reduce the huge waste involved in food production,
and to maximise water use. We are going to use this opportunity to
leverage aquaculture into helping Burkina Faso to make the most
profitable use of her water resources.”
