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AFRICA AQUACULTURE RESOURCE CENTER [AARC]
It’s a well-known fact that smallholder farmers account for 80% of food production in Sub-Saharan Africa. At AARC, we believe that smallholder farming model is the key solution to food and nutritional security, creation of jobs, inclusive economic development and improve climate resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Aquaculture Business School

To succeed in commercial aquaculture, we need to equip the smallholder farmers with technical skills, business acumen and create knowledge awareness on commercial aquaculture to accelerate delivery of triple bottom line outcomes:

a) Social Impact: Bridge the food and nutritional security gap and eradicate mulnutrition.

b) Economic Growth: raise incomes for smallholders, create jobs and sustainable livelihoods.

c) Environmental Sustainability: Improve water access, optimize land-use, fertilize the soils, reduce GHC emissions and carbon footprint. 

ABS delivers inclusive and equitable training along five [5] farmers’ training models as follows: 

  • Class Room Training
  • Farmer Business School
  • Farmer-train-Farmer
  • On-Farm training
  • Interactive Vernacular Radio Programs. 

We are in the process of establishing a six-months Aquaculture Technical & Business Management [ATBM] certification program that will enable us to build a network of certified Aquaculture Extension Agents to continuously support smallholders and provide aquaculture technical services.

Capacity Building

To succeed in commercial fish farming, the farmers must have good technical skills and business acumen.We train the farmers through [5] different models as follows:

  1. Class-Training: This takes place at the demo farm which is located at the AARC’s business support unit [BSU]. The training covers aquaculture principles, practices and technics, together with business and entrepreneurial skills.
  2. Aquaculture Business School [ABS]: We use experiential learning to consolidate and reinforce the lessons from class-room through hands-on practice at their own fish farm [FIAT].
  3. Extension Services: Each producer group is assigned an Extension Agent for a monthly review and continues one on one training and technical advice. In addition, they have access to the farmers helpdesk at the BSU by phone or physically if need be.
  4. Interactive radio programs:AARC is currently working with radio stations in development and broadcasting of interactive aquaculture radio programs in vernacular languages to create awareness on the social, economic and health benefits of aquaculture and agricultural practices that will improve climate resilience.

 

Key highlights of the Farmers Training Programme
Setup of a FIAT

The Farm-in-A-Tank [FIAT] is a greenhouse with four HDPE fish tanks. The greenhouse reduces temperature drop at night, while the solar lighting enables longer feeding hours – hence faster growth. Once enrolled in the program, AARC provides the smallholder with the FIAT on lease and input on credit, while they provide land, water and labour.

Circular Fish Tanks

Each HDPE fish tanks holds 15,000 litres of water with capacity to produce at least 1,000Kg/year.  During the initial site assessment, the AARC Extension agent helps the outgrower to  identify the best location for the FIAT and establish an effective water system that allows for the weekly replenishing of the water in the tanks.

Stocking of Fingerlings

Through our hatchery, AARC provides high quality fingerlings at 10 grams - to shorten the harvest cycle and reduce mortality. Each producer group is assigned an Extension Agent who supports them during the initial stocking stage to ensure they adhere to the set FIAT standard operating procedures.

On-farm Support Services

After stocking AARC supplies feed and continuously provides the outgrowers on-farm training and Extension Services. On monthly basis, the Lead Farmer convenes a ‘Farmers Field Day’ when they visit the best performing farmer in the producer group to review progress and share experiences.  This provides continuous learning.

Harvesting & Post Harvesting

The Lead Farmer [leaders of each of the producer group] and/or the Extension Agent supervises the harvesting to ensure that the standard operating procedures are followed, and the fish is packed into designated ‘tuk-tuks’ and taken to the purging bay at the AARC’s Business Support Unit [BSU].  This minimizes post-harvest losses.

Water Management Program

Fish farming requires a lot of water. Through our Water Resource Management Program, we support the outgrowers to establish a rain-water harvesting system in every household.  In addition, we are developing community-based programs to establish water pans, planting of fruit-trees around the water bodies and replenish the water wells.

Waste Management [Effluent Water]

The FIAT is a zero-waste system that integrates the use of the effluent water from the fish tanks [which is rich in nutrients], as organic fertilizer to revitalize the soils and raise productivity of other food crops. AARC works with the outgrowers to facilitate adoption of new agricultural techniques that optimize use of land through vertical extension.

Country Aquaculture Profiles
Kenya
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Burundi
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Rwanda
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Uganda
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Tanzania
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Malawi
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Extensive Aquaculture [Pond System]

A 300M2 pond system is the most commonly used fish farming system by smallholder farmers in Kenya and across sub-Saharan Africa.

However, it’s characterized by low productivity at an average of 200Kg per year- due to low stocking densities and inconsistent growth rate through-out the year due to temperature changes. Hence the pond system is only suitable for subsistence fish farming.

Intensive Aquaculture Recirculation Aquaculture System [RAS]

Commonly used by medium and large sized fish producQon enterprises, the Intensive RecirculaQon Aquaculture Systems [RAS] are high-tech, high-yielding fish producQon systems.

A RAS system the size of a pond can produce as much at 50,000Kg of fish per year. However, it requires a lot of capital for the iniQal setup with high operaQng expense and a 24/7 electricity supply. Hence only few entrepreneurs have the capacity to invest and manage a RAS enterprise.

Semi-Intensive Aquaculture Farm-In-A-Tank [FIAT]

The FIAT is a cost-effective adaptation of the high-tech RAS system, customized for rural areas without electricity to make it affordable and usable by smallholder farmers.

Occupying the same space as a pond 300M2, it raises the yields of an earthen pond from 200Kg per year to at least 4,000Kg – with consistent production throughout the year.

Of the three systems, the FIAT is the most cost- effective, scalable with the highest return on capital and social impact in terms of raising incomes for smallholders and creating jobs for youth and women.

Kenya Aquaculture

Over the last decade, wild capture output decreased from 188,341metric tons [MT] in 2011 to 130,903MT in 2021. Notably, the maximum sustainable yields [MSY] for most rivers and lakes has been exceeded, hence, capture fish output has plateaued in the last 5 years since 2018 at ~132,000MT.  On the other hand, with the support of the government’s ESP, aquaculture grew from 4,200MT [2008] to a peak of 24,100 MT [2014], and then dropped to 10,356 MT [2017] after the smallholder farmers dropped out after the government’s support ended. However, it has since risen to 21,850MT [2023] of which over 50% is produced by one large enterprise operating at Lake Victoria – the source of 95% of Kenya’s wild catch – hence creating a single source of failure.   

The climate crisis, the declining wild capture, the growing population, urbanization and growing need for healthier diets has left Kenya with a low annual per capita fish consumption less than 4Kg, against Africa’s [10Kg] and the global average at [21Kg] – creating a supply deficit estimated at 500,000 MT to meet Africa’s average. AARC is responding to this supply deficit.

 

Target Counties in Kenya

 

AARC is focusing on six counties/regions with good weather for fish farming, categorized as Arid and Semi-Arid Land [ASAL], food insecure and marginalized [for some]– hence recipients of food aid during droughts.  These are:

  • Eastern Counties: Kitui [55.2%], Makueni [39.7%] and Machakos [35.6%]
  • Coastal Counties: Kwale [50.5%], Kilifi [49.2%] and Lamu [35.1%]

 

[Poverty headcount ratio in bracket against the national average at 38.6% -KNBS,2021]

 

Protein-rich Food System

We focus on aquaculture [fish farming] – the most resource-efficient protein production system, compared to livestock and protein crops in terms of water, land-use and feed [for livestock]. For example, it takes an average of 1.4Kgs of feed to produce 1Kg of fish, compared to beef at an average of 8Kgs, goat 5Kgs, pigs 3.8Kgs and poultry at 1.7Kgs.

Climate Action

Climate Action: Notably, smallholder farmers especially women, are the most impacted by climate change in terms of food production, livelihoods and access to water. Through our ‘Water Resource Management ‘ initiative, we promote rain-water harvesting, planting of fruit trees and replenishment of water wells to improve access to water for daily use and irrigation. Hence, the smallholders can sustainably feed Africa, improve their livelihoods and climate resilience and reduce the national food security burden.

Smallholder Farmers

It is a well-known fact that over 80% of the food in Sub Saharan Africa is produced by smallholder farmers who depend on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihoods. Hence, the climate crisis leading to droughts, floods, desert locusts and rising waters – makes Africa one of most vulnerable continents in terms of food production, nutrition security, livelihoods, water availability and health.

Aquaculture Business School

To succeed in commercial aquaculture, we need to equip the smallholder farmers with technical skills, business acumen and create knowledge awareness on commercial aquaculture to accelerate delivery of triple bottom line outcomes:

a) Social Impact: Bridge the food and nutritional security gap and eradicate mulnutrition.

b) Economic Growth: raise incomes for smallholders, create jobs and sustainable livelihoods.

c) Environmental Sustainability: Improve water access, optimize land-use, fertilize the soils, reduce GHC emissions and carbon footprint. 

Inclusive Business Model

To scale production, we have adopted the smallholder ‘outgrower’ farming model -the most successful farming system in Sub Saharan Africa. We enrol the smallholders [ensuring 60% are women], equip them with a FIAT,supply inputs [feed and fingerlings], provide training and technical services. As the sole offtaker, AARC purchases the fish, processes, markets and distributes – creating a robust market system that guarantees the outgrowers a reliable monthly income, and to the market -quality assurance and traceability.

Technology Innovation

We have developed a high-yielding semi-intensive aquaculture production system referred to as ‘Farm-In-A-Tank’ [FIAT], combining the greenhouse technology and cost-effective adaptation of the recirculation aquaculture system [RAS] -used by the medium and large producers.  The FIAT transforms the capital-intensive RAS system to an economically viable micro- enterprise, that intensifies smallholder yields from subsistence levels of 200Kg/year [using earthen ponds], to commercial levels of at least 4,000 Kg/year.