By Herbert Musoke
Fish farmers have a reason to smile after De Heus Animal Nutrition company established a factory in Uganda to manufacture fish feeds.
Bon Tjeenk Willink, the general manager of De Heus Uganda, said the company has been in Uganda since 2018 with its imported brand of Koudijs, which is the market leader in most livestock feeds known for its reliability, high quality and efficiency.
He made the remarks recently during the breaking of the ground ceremony for the construction of De Heus fish feeds plant at Model Farm village in Njeru municipality, Buikwe district.
Willink said De Heus is a Dutch family-owned animal nutrition company established in 1911 and is a global top-10 feed supplier with sales in Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America and the leader in tilapia feeds.
“We plan to build a 50,000-tonne capacity fish feed modern plant in Njeru, Buikwe district. This will not only serve Uganda, but also East Africa and beyond. It is going to be the first aqua feed plant in Africa,” he said.
Willink said the plant will produce tilapia feeds and other species as demanded by customers by the second half of next year.
He, however, said with the increasing population and stagnating wild catch, aquaculture has steadily been growing.
Willink added that Uganda is exceptionally well-positioned for aquaculture with large lakes and good temperatures for fish farming all year round, and what farmers need is a reliable feed.
He explained that feeds are the most critical element in fish farming that needs to be easily available, of good and consistent quality and be offered at an affordable price.
“Currently, fish feeds in Uganda are imported, which makes the supply chain inflational and expensive. With this plant, we will provide farmers in East Africa with healthy nutrition and sustainable fish feeds. We hope that with locally produced feeds, the industry will gradually grow,” he said.
Theo Smackbraak, the De Heus manager for Middle East and Africa, said besides the feeds, they will look at the whole value chain to identify other areas they can get involved in.
Apart from fish farmers, crop farmers should also jubilate as the plant will buy maize, soya, cassava and other raw materials needed for production. This will make the local value chain work and make Uganda less dependent on imports.
Smackbraak said they will be working with farmer co-operatives to secure development and increase yields in their business. The plant will create over 10,000 jobs for the local people along the fish farming value chain.
“We want to make this a model farm for future plants and aim for zero emissions. Therefore, we won’t look at only improving the incomes of the farmers, but also conserving the environment,” he said.
Yasin Kyazze, the Njeru municipality mayor, thanked De Heus and the Netherlands for establishing the plant in their locality and asked them to consider the locals for employment as it will help in the transformation of their livelihoods.
He said it is a known fact that fish is a critical protein and is widely consumed in Uganda.
“Open water nearly covers 20% of Uganda’s surface and this has seen the fishing industry grow with over 1.5 million people working directly in the sector, and over five million people deriving their livelihood from fishing,” he said.
Fish feed was costly
Robert Osinde, the president of the Uganda Commercial Fish Farmers Association, expressed the farmers’ gratitude towards the construction of the fish feed plant, saying it is going to help them to cut the cost of production.
“Feeds account for 60%- 65% of the cost of production, and of late it has risen to 80%. This is because for all the years, we have been importing fish feeds from Egypt, South Africa, Brazil, Vietnam and other countries, which makes the feeds expensive,” he said.
Importing fish feeds
Osinde said importing a tonne of fish feed rose from $750 to $1,500 since the outbreak of COVID-19.
“Buikwe being the centre of fish farming as the majority of fish farmers are in Buikwe, producing feeds locally will help reduce the cost, thus increasing productivity and profitability of our farmers,” he said.
He also said with the low cost of production, Uganda’s fish will become competitive in regional markets, since 80% of the catch is sold in DR Congo, Rwanda, Kenya, South Sudan and other countries.
Relations between the Netherlands, Uganda
Uganda’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Mirjam Blaak Sow, is optimistic that Uganda will benefit much from the relationship with the Netherlands, tapping into its expertise and technological advancements.
“The Netherlands being the second largest agricultural country in the world, Uganda can benefit a lot from working with the Dutch investors. The Dutch have a lot for us as Uganda and I hope working with them will bring advancement to Uganda’s economy through the agricultural sector,” she said.
Blaak called on Ugandans to engage in growing crops that will be needed by the feeds plant, especially maize and soya as the plant will need thousands of tonnes to keep running throughout the year.
Netherlands supports Uganda’s transformation
The aquaculture plant which will be constructed targets the booming sectors in East Africa as the livestock and aquaculture sectors are growing in the region, Dr Karin Boven, the Netherlands Ambassador to Uganda, said.
“The Netherlands’ embassy in Uganda looks at making a contribution to Uganda’s agricultural transformation as laid down in the country’s Vision 2040. Our food security portfolio, agricultural trade and investment activities; the Harvest Money Expo and Best Farmers Competition, are all aligned with the Vision 2040 and a clear sign of our commitment to the agricultural transformation agenda of Uganda,” she said.
Boven said the Netherlands is ready to stimulate investments with advice, problem-solving activities and support.
“We believe that farming is a business and with investing in commercial farming, family incomes increase, jobs are created, exports increase, profitable agribusinesses pay taxes and the entire economy booms,” she said.
Boven added that investments like those of De Heus are a good example of what is needed to add value to primary production and foster agricultural transformation.
