By Edward Kayiwa and Sarah Nabakooza
Uganda’s fisheries sector, nestled amid the landscape of the country’s countless lakes, is a goldmine for the country that is yet to be significantly harnessed.
With Uganda having the biggest number of inland water bodies in Africa, the amount of wealth the country can harvest is immeasurable.
In the third National Development Plan (NDPIII), which runs from 2020 to 2025, government set a target of increasing the total export value of processed agricultural commodities, including fish, coffee, tea, dairy, meat and maize from $1b to $4b by 2025.
Vincent Ssempijja, the minister for defence and veterans affairs, who is the former agriculture minister, has been an advocate for increased prioritisation of the fisheries sector.
“The fisheries sector is a goldmine for our country. The fisheries sector is currently employing two million Ugandans and earning the country foreign exchange of $170m (sh629b) annually. But if it is well-developed, the sector has the potential to employ 10 million Ugandans,” Ssempijja argues.
According to Hellen Adoa, the Minister of State for Fisheries, Uganda actively participates in international and regional initiatives, collaborating with organisations, such as the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation, to manage shared lakes and protect their fragile ecosystems.
Adoa emphasises that Uganda aligns its policies with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aiming to leverage fisheries to reduce poverty, enhance nutrition and preserve the environment. These policies not only pave the way for Ugandan fish products to enter international markets, but also contribute significantly to the country’s economic growth.
However, the minister acknowledges that the fisheries sector faces substantial challenges, primarily stemming from unsustainable practices.
The surge in fishing activities in Lake Victoria, driven by misconceptions of its commercial potential, poses a significant threat to the delicate ecosystem.
The minister emphasises the need to strike a balance between sustainable fishing practices and economic gains, as the focus on one fish species, the Nile perch, has overshadowed the importance of other species.
To address this issue, she says, women groups have emerged as key players in the fisheries sector by engaging in value-addition activities, particularly with silverfish.
“They are involved in deep-frying silverfish and packaging it for consumption, contributing to the preservation of fish species like the Nile perch, which have diverse uses beyond consumption,” she notes.
Cage Fishing and aquaculture
Cage fishing, a relatively new practice in Uganda, was not previously covered by existing laws, leading to potential conflicts between wild and cage fishers.
Another concern is the lack of robust government oversight, as individuals built structures near lake shores, endangering the lakes’ ecosystems.
Adoa stresses the importance of preserving these water bodies for the benefit of future generations, emphasising the need for stricter regulations to protect the environment. Uganda faces a significant challenge in the production of reliable local fish feed, despite having quality fingerlings.
Adoa notes that high taxes on investors looking to establish fish feed factories have impeded progress in this critical area.
“Lowering taxes for investors in the fish feed production sector could bridge this gap and support the growth of the aquaculture industry,” she says.
Challenges and opportunities
The sector faces several bottlenecks, including illegal fishing and the capture of immature fish, pollution, habitat destruction, inadequate facilities, lack of standards, invasive plants, climate change, raw material shortages, consumer preferences, limited access to quality seed and feed, financial constraints, high production costs and diseases.
Amidst these challenges, there are promising investment opportunities, including clean energy options, value-addition, bait production, contributions to the pharmaceutical industry and empowerment of women and youth in the sector.
Government’s role
To unlock the full potential of Uganda’s fisheries sector, stakeholders call on the government to increase funding to the sector, enact sound policies and governance frameworks, ensure safety standards, encourage diversification, provide subsidies, tax waivers, and soft loans, streamline fish maw activities and create awareness and capacity building through public awareness campaigns.
Herbert Nakiyende, a Fisheries Stock Assessment Scientist at the National Fisheries Resources Research Institute (NaFIRRI), says stressing the importance of protecting Uganda’s lakes and fish populations, especially the abundance of small fish species.
Grace Kwamboka, the finance manager at the SON Fish Farm, Jinja, notes the need for streamlined licensing, support for local fish feed production, affordable financing, and proper value chain management.
Philip Borel, the proprietor of Interfish Farm, emphasises the importance of quality seed and biosecurity systems, controlling illegal nets and reinvesting taxes from fisheries into communities.
Neil Helling from Yalelo Fish Company believes that addressing the challenges of high operating costs, issues with fish feed, and the importance of enforcing high standards will make a big impact in growing the sector.
Dick Nyeko, the chief executive officer of Uganda fish processors and exporters association, emphasized the importance of advocating simplified and accessible standards guidelines for all business operators in the fisheries sector.
On the issue of underfunding for the fisheries sector, the shadow minister for fisheries, Charles Tebandeke, says: “Such meagre allocations to the fisheries sector of only sh1.7b in the 2023/2024 budget is an indication of government’s failure to judiciously allocate money in the national budget. The fisheries sector is currently the second leading foreign exchange earner for the country. It is a sector which has enormous potential to create jobs and improve the economic welfare of millions of Ugandans if government adequately invested in it.”
Equally concerned about underfunding for the sector, Buvuma County MP Robert Migadde, who represents fishing communities, says: “Not even sh1,000 is given to local governments for fisheries activities in their districts. The central department of fisheries has been allocated only sh1.6b in the next financial year. The same way government gives inputs like seedlings, seeds, cows, mills to other sectors, it needs to give fishing nets, engines, hooks and other inputs because a single fishing net costs sh130,000 and a boat requires 50 nets. An engine costs sh9m, while an acceptable boat costs sh3m. So, the capital one needs for a boat is between sh25m and sh30m.”
Migadde notes that since the poverty levels are very high in the islands, which makes people resort to using illegal fishing gear, government needs to help them get the standard ones.
“The fisheries sector contributes a lot to the country’s foreign exchange earnings. Government wants to milk a cow it doesn’t feed. The President said we can get twice what the United Arab Emirates gets from oil from fish maw, but what investment is government making in the fisheries sector to attain that?
“Fish exports earned Uganda $146m (over sh540b) last year, with almost no investment from government and the budget the sector has been allocated is only sh1.7b, which is laughable. Government needs to invest sh10b in the required gear for the next five years and earn over $800m per year in addition to creating thousands of jobs in the sector and improving the country’s nutrition,” he says.
The budgeting process for the next financial year 2024/2025 kicked off last month, with consultations of various stakeholders and the draft national budget is expected to be tabled in Parliament at the end of December.
