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Over the last decade, Ghana's tilapia agriculture has experienced phenomenal growth in production, which has improved industry revenues and the production of animal protein for consumers, according to 2018 study conducted by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
But losses of more than 100 tonnes of caged fish in the Lake Volta region in recent months highlight the serious problems Ghana faces in securing and developing this growth.
"Aquaculture is essential for food and jobs as we face dwindling fish production and supply from capture fisheries," said Michael Arthur-Dadzie, executive director of the Commission's the Peach. To build on recent growth, local and international research institutes have partnered with private hatcheries and the government's Fisheries Commission to launch a new project to improve tilapia seed.
Research has shown that the recent growth of tilapia cultivation in Ghana is largely due to four factors: an improved local strain of Akosombo developed and published in 2005, government policy support initiatives, best practices and technologies. management at hatchery and production level, and finally the availability of high quality food locally.
However, fish diseases (for example, Streptococcus bacteria in 2014 and Tilapia Lake virus in 2018), probably due to poor management practices, poor seasonal water quality and illegal imports of fish. foreign Tilapia strains, result in high tilapia mortality in parts of the lake. Volta.
Entitled "Accelerating Aquaculture Development in Ghana through Sustainable Production and Dissemination of Nile Tilapia Seeds" (TiSeed in Brief), the project was launched at the Institute for Research on Food and Agriculture. (WRI) Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Accra.
This three-year project, which runs from 2019 to 2022, focuses on the improvement of tilapia seeds and is implemented by a consortium of local research institutes. and international, led by IFPRI and supported by KIT Royal Tropical Institute in the Netherlands. and WorldFish. The Fisheries Commission (a government institution) and two private hatcheries (S-HOINT Ltd. and Crystal Lake Ltd.) are other partners.
"Livestock and aquaculture research have stagnated in Ghana, resulting in poor quality seeds as well as low agricultural productivity and profitability. IFPRI and its partners have received this research grant to help the country improve the fundamentals of the tilapia seed system, "said Catherine Ragasa, IFPRI Research Fellow and Researcher.
"We bring a diverse and complementary expertise to the project: from livestock, hatchery management, fish health, food safety, water quality and seed distribution to the technologies of aquaculture. 39, information and communication (ICT), sociology and economics to promote sustainable and profitable production of tilapia. We also plan to test and rigorously evaluate the impact and effectiveness of different approaches to fish seed distribution and extension services. "
Seth Koranteng Agyakwah, head of CSIR-WRI's Center for Research and Development for Aquaculture (ARDEC) and partner of the local consortium in Ghana, said the project "will help generate and disseminate scientific data. on the quality of tilapia seed, the monitoring and coordination of industry players, the evaluation and development of new, improved, productive, safe, resilient and disease-resistant tilapia strains ".
CSIR-WRI director Mike Osei-Atweneboana also added that the project "is timely, as we are facing serious problems in the sector with enormous potential for development".
The project will work with key industry players, also present at pre-proposal and launch meetings, including Raanan Fish Feed West Africa Ltd., Go Aqua Feed Ghana Ltd., Ghana Aquaculture Association. , National Association of Fish Farmers, Flosell Farms, West African Fish Ltd., National Aquaculture Technical Committee, Environmental Protection Agency, among others. The project is a research grant funded by the Government of the Netherlands and the CGIAR research programs on policies, institutions and markets (PIM) and agri-food systems for fish (FISH).
The project aims to improve and monitor the quality of tilapia seeds, increase productivity (20% for cages and 15% for ponds) and reduce the fingerling mortality rate by 50% for at least 400 smallholders of ponds and cages (including women and young people). ) in Volta, Eastern, Ashanti and Brong Ahafo (as pilot regions) at the end of the project.
In his closing remarks, Michael Arthur-Dadzie said: "Although the focus is on tilapia seeds and the research grant is modest, this project has enormous potential for generating greater interest in the research. the donor and investor sector, and the availability of improved solutions. scientific data will serve as a basis for policy and regulatory reforms in Ghana. The Fisheries Commission is committed to integrating the study recommendations and lessons learned into our operations. "
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