Malawi needs $700m to boost fish production

The Department of Fisheries has said the country needs to invest $700 million in fish farming if it is to realise its goal of producing 729 000 metric tonnes (MT) by 2033.

Speaking yesterday during a meeting with the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change on the status of fish production, Department of Fisheries director Hastings Zidana indicated Malawi currently produces 200 000MT of fish.

He said with serious investment in fish production, the country has the potential to increase the production for local consumption as well as exports.

“With 20 percent of Malawi’s surface area covered by water, we have the potential to increase fish production. We have more water than Zambia but we are eating fish from Zambia,” said Zidana.

He said investment is needed in infrastructure to support aquaculture mega farms, research, production of quality fingerlings, production of quality feed, empowering farmers to produce quality fish and many other efforts.

The director said Malawi needs to learn from Zambia on how it has turned around the fish sector, further calling for a presidential initiative on aquaculture to help attract development partners to support fish farming.

In response, committee vice-chairperson George Katunga Million challenged the department to grow the fish industry so that Malawi moves away from importing to exporting fish.

He said: “We cannot be importing fish. It is an anomaly that we need to correct as a country. When I say as a country, the burden is on your shoulder. You are our experts in as far as fisheries and fish farming is concerned.

“So this committee implores you to work extra hard to reverse this trend, from importing fish to exporting fish.”

Million further urged the department to focus on research to improve fish production and empowering smallholder farmers to produce their own feed arguing feed is expensive to buy.

Fish contributes 70 percent of the protein in the national diet. It also contributes four percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

The 2022 Malawi Government Annual Economic Report shows that in 2021, Malawi generated K187.3 billion from the sale of 173 480MT of fish an increase of 1.5 percent from the previous year.

The report said in terms of catch composition, usipa was the dominant fish species that contributed the largest share at 58 percent of the total catch. This was followed by utaka, kambuzi, mlamba and ncheni which accounted for 11 percent, five percent, three percent and two percent, respectively.