Fish farmers agonise over feed shortage

Tendai Chara

FISH farmers are agonising over shortages of fish feed, a development which they said is slowing growth of a sector that has been attracting more players of late.

According to the Zimbabwe Fish Producers Association (ZFPA), an association which represents the interests of about 400 fish farmers, the country is facing an acute shortage of fish feed.

“We are in a crisis. There is an acute shortage of fish feed. As I speak, fish farmers in Kwekwe have not been accessing fish feed in the past two weeks,” Mr Sokonia Kaitano, an administrator with ZFPA, said.

According to Mr Kaitano, only one local company, Aquafeeds, is manufacturing fish feed for commercial purposes.

“It is sad to note that the shortages are coming at a time when more farmers are venturing into fish farming. There is need for more companies that produce fish feed since this will not only result in the availability of feed but also in prices for the feed going down,” he said.

Players in the fish farming sector attributed the current fish feed shortages to a number of factors, among them foreign currency shortages.

The majority of the premixes that are used in the production of fish feed are reportedly imported.

Mazvita Mufukare, the Aquafeeds aquaculturist, however, said the company has the capacity to produce fish feeds.

“Aquafeeds recognised that the aquaculture industry in Zimbabwe is growing and has responded to make sure that the fish feed requirements of all farmers in Zimbabwe are met. Aquafeeds is well placed to meet the feed requirements of all fish farmers in the country,” Mufukare said.

She attributed the alleged shortages to “logistical challenges” at retail outlets.

“Any retail outlet without fish feed would be a result of timing between ordering and receiving the feed at the branch.”

Zimbabwe reportedly needs about 60 000 metric tonnes of fish every year.

Local farmers are currently producing less than 20 000 metric tonnes of fish each year, resulting in an influx of imported fish from China and Namibia, among other countries.