Why Shs40.5b fish project has stalled

A Shs40.5b project to study, design, cost, and operationalise model commercial aquaculture parks in Uganda has sought an additional 24 months for proper implementation, the Monitor has learnt.

The project, which is jointly funded by the European Union (EU) and the government, aims at stimulating and attracting commercial Aquaculture value chain investments in the country.

The EU is contributing €10m (Shs39.5b) while the government is contributing €250,000 (Shs987.5m).

The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) is in charge of implementing the project.

The project is a result of a feasibility study commissioned by the European Union in 2013, whose scope assessed potential sites for water and land-based aqua park investment, guided by the international site selection criteria.

The study identified and recommended Mwena in Kalangala District for a cage-based system, and Ibujje Sub-county in Apac District for a land-based system.

The government then provided 200 hectares of land for the Apac project and the EU funds infrastructure development and 22 acres for the hatchery land in Mwena.

Behind schedule

The approved implementation period of the project was scheduled to end yesterday. However, some activities have not been completed, according to a source from MAAIF.

Four grounds have been raised to justify the extension of the Financing Agreement and implementation period by 24 months.

One of the justifications is to design and build works contracts for the parks and the supervision consultancy.

The source said the two contracts were signed in January 2020, however, they were significantly affected by the Covid-19 lockdown measures and further the delayed procurement of the supervision consultants who were a prerequisite under the Financing Agreement.

“The Mwena supervisor was contracted in February 2022 while the Apac supervisor was contracted in July 2022 leaving insufficient time for successful execution of the two contracts,” the source said.

He, however, said significant progress has now been made because the two respective supervisors have approved the technical engineering designs which pave the way for the construction works, which will further build the local capacity with grower models to attract private partnerships.

The second reason for requesting an extension, according to the source, is to grant the National Agriculture Research Organisation-Kajjansi Aquaculture Research and Development Centre (NARO-KARDC), which is implementing applied research and training in feed, seed and production systems with a commercial perspective.

“KARDC is at the stage of carrying out on-farm feed trials to establish the best-performing feed for the various stages of fish for commercialisation and at least 12 months are needed to assess the performance of different formulations made from existing Uganda feed raw materials,” the source said.

He added: “Therefore, NARO-KARDC action requires additional 12 months to enable effective completion and evaluation of this activity country-wide.”

The project has also been delayed by the training of farmers and others by Makerere University.

The ivory tower was to undertake modular practical training for 200 farmers, 20 undergraduate interns and six supporting master’s students on research aimed at solving real aquaculture value chain-specific challenges.

According to a document provided by the source, the above contract became effective on March 21, 2022 and is scheduled to end on January 20.

However, the Master’s component and modular training of farmers and follow-up of knowledge transfer, skills development and document comprehensive practical Aquaculture training programme require an additional year to deliver the contract outputs.

The project further seeks extension in order to establish a One-Stop-Shop (OSS) for potential investors and survey to update the aquaculture database.

It is understood that there are three components under this contract, which include a national aquaculture survey, the establishment of an OSS for aquaculture information and the development of an Aquaculture Management Information System (Aqua MIS).

About the project

Dr Anthony Taabu Munyaho, the deputy executive secretary of the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation (LVFO), said the project aims at promoting fish farming in the country.

“It is about establishing commercial aquaculture parks in Apac and Kalangala like you see industrial parks in Namanve so that people can learn how to farm fish,” he told Daily Monitor in a telephone interview.

A document obtained from the MAAIF outlines four core result areas of the project, including developing a sound policy and regulatory framework, promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, enhancing production and productivity of aquaculture fish and fish products; and reducing post-harvest losses among others.

The purpose of the project is to improve food and nutrition security, increase income and improve livelihoods, and promote an environmentally sustainable, inclusive and climate-resilient socio-economic development, which focuses on a market-oriented aquaculture value chain targeting the national and regional markets among others.

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to a competitive, profitable, job-intensive, environmentally-sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture sector and further to reduce poverty and improve food and nutrition security in the context of the changing climate.

fish farming                            in busoga

In Busoga Sub-region farmers have embraced aquaculture, albeit in a less conventional way.

In Jinja City, most of the 146 members of the defunct Kitovu Fish Farmers Association have continued with commercial fish farming after being compensated with close to Shs2b by the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) which acquired their land in Jinja North Division.

The land, measuring about 400 metres in width and 2.2kms in length, is along the 219-kilometre eastern railway corridor that runs from Malaba to Kampala and is the site for the proposed railway station for Jinja City.

Most of the beneficiaries relocated to Masese Landing Site to set up fish cage farms in which they reportedly harvest 18 tonnes of fish monthly, most of which is sold locally and in Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya among other destinations.

Mr Julius Kayiira, the former Kitovu Fish Farmers Association publicist, told Daily Monitor that he and his former colleagues don’t regret resorting to cage fish farming.

“A compartment of a cage can have up to 5,000 fish which, after eight months, gives the farmer about 2,500 tonnes of fish, with each kilogramme going for Shs8,000,” he said.

In Wakawaka Village, Bulidha Sub-county, Bugiri District, about 1,400 women are engaged in commercial cage fish farming worth Shs2.8b, a project which was handed over to them in December 2021 by the United Nations (UN) Women agency.

The project started in 2019 with funding from Standard Bank Group of Companies (South Africa), the Swedish government, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and Msingi East Africa.

Its implementation was based on research by the UN Women agency on gender gaps in agriculture production which Bugiri District wanted.

Ms Immaculate Were, the chief executive officer of Women from Economic Empowerment Bugiri (WEEB) Uganda limited, said: “The aqua park strategy was initiated around 2012 and later went silent, but I’m glad it has had got to this level and hopefully the responsible persons will implement it as per the guiding principles .”

She, however, noted that the prices of fish were fluctuating .

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