The 40th National Farmers’ Day celebration’s theme, ‘Building climate-resilient agriculture for sustainable food security’, was apt considering impacts of climate change on the fisheries and aquaculture sector in recent times.
The theme emphasises necessity for developing climate-resilient fisheries and aquaculture as a fundamental pillar of sustainable food security in our country. Regulating fishing practices, restoring habitats and protecting delicate ecosystems are essential for the sector to withstand impacts from climate change. To this end, a new Fisheries and Aquaculture bill that seeks to address issues related to climate change is before parliament.
Aquaculture holds immense potential to supplement capture fish production, offering a sustainable and reliable source of protein for our nation. However, the fisheries’ legal framework has over the years been focused on capture fisheries with limited provisions on aquaculture development.
Therefore, it is envisioned that the new Fisheries and Aquaculture bill, when passed by parliament, will extensively provide for the regulation of aquaculture practice. Building climate resilience in fisheries and aquaculture is not an option; it is a necessity.
The fisheries and aquaculture sector continues to play a significant role in our country’s socio-economic development.
Fish production for 2023 was over 684,000 metric tonnes and the per capita consumption was 20kg. The country earned over US$425million from exporting fish and fishery products in 2023.
It is estimated that over 3 million people are employed along the sector’s value chain.
According to the Minister of Food and Agriculture, despite the existential challenges presented by climate change, the agriculture sector has seen a remarkable growth from 2.6% in 2016 to an average of 5.7 % between 2017 and 2023.
This is due to strategic investments and programmes implemented by government in the agriculture sector with the PFJ and PFJ 2.0 as main vehicles. Farmer access to certified seeds, fertiliser and mechanisation services improved significantly over the period.
This resulted in increased crop productivity and production of targetted crops. Yields of maize, rice and soyabeans, for example, increased by 135%, 67% and 18% respectively, while production of cereals, legumes and roots & tubers increased by 106%, 68% and 59% respectively from 2016 to 2023.
