FISHERIES VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS STUDY IN BOTSWANA

Transcription

1 FISHERIES VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS STUDY IN BOTSWANA RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DIVISION LOCAL ENTERPRISE AUTHORITY APRIL 2015 F: RDD: 11 Rev.:00

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report analyses the Botswana Fisheries Value Chain using both primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected from the different industry players including input suppliers, fishers, agents, traders and support institutions. Secondary data, on the other hand, was mainly collected from Statistics Botswana and the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) in the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism (MEWT). The study also undertook a stakeholder workshop, which centred on identification of support services provision at the macro level, which influence the environment in which value chain players operate. These include, inter alia, policies, regulations, finance, technology transfer and institutional elements such as research and human resource development. In addition, benchmark trips were undertaken to the Republic of South Africa (RSA) and Zambia. The benchmarks were informed by the absence of some key players like processing and limited fish farming in the local value chain as noted from the previous ABOLR studies undertaken by the LEA. Therefore, the main objective of the benchmark was to afford the researchers an opportunity to appreciate the operations of capture fisheries, fish farming, handling of fish and processing. The overall objective of the study was to assess the fisheries sector in the country and come up with opportunities for its future development. Page ii

3 Specific Objectives of the study i. Establish key actors of the Botswana s fisheries value chain i iv. Establish production volumes and values for fish and fish products Establish production technologies in the fish industry Establish consumption levels and values for fish and fish products in the industry v. Determine domestic market, prices and market requirements for fish and fish products vi. v vi Map the current Botswana s fisheries value chain Establish policy, regulatory and industry related developments and constraints within the fisheries value chain framework Identify potential business opportunities in the fisheries value chain Major Findings of the study A. Input Supply i. Most of the inputs, other than feed, used in the fisheries sector were found to be available locally. However, some nets and other inputs were still imported from countries like Zambia and the RSA. Fish feed is expensive and not readily available locally. Local fish farms individually import in small quantities mainly from the Republic of South Africa which is costly to them. Page iii

4 B. Capture Fisheries i. The country is divided into four fishing areas being the Ngamiland, Chobe, Mmadinare and Gaborone. These are further subdivided into several extension areas. Capture fisheries is prominent in the north-western part of the country mainly due to several water bodies found in the Okavango region. 92.8% (220) of the respondents from the four targeted fishing areas were fishing in the Ngamiland fishing area while only 7.2% of the respondents fished in other fishing areas of Chobe (7), Gaborone (6) and Mmadinare (4). For an example, the DWNP issued a total of 899 commercial capture fishing licences as at December 2014 and Lake Ngami alone, accounted to 600 of these licences. i Lake Ngami in the Ngamiland fishing area currently experiences the highest number of capture fishers who have set camps at the lake side. This has resulted in pollution to the Lake and surrounding areas as there are no sanitation and waste handling facilities in these camps. iv. Capture fisheries in Lake Ngami Extension area has of late received a lot of publicity from the local media relating to pollution, overfishing and exploitation of fishers by foreigners. This has led to the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism imposing a one year fishing ban in the area until March LEA should continue to monitor developments related to this issue. v. The Gaborone extension area has reduced output of fish which could be attributed to the recent failure of the Gaborone dam. Page iv

5 C. Processing i. None existence of basic hygiene infrastructure (toilets, ablutions, waste receptacles) in the main fishing areas, especially in the northwest was the primary concern. As a result, there are environmental degradation concerns around the main fishing areas. Lack of hygiene compliant storage facilities at the fishing areas was the main hindrance in the failure of the locally captured fish to enter the formal premium markets (retail and hospitality) on account of poor hygiene, preservation and handling. Fishers used water from the lake or rivers (as opposed to potable water) to clean fish during the first stage of processing (degutting). i There are no established fish processing establishments across the country. This has led to failure of the locally captured fish to enter the formal market leading to the exploitation of local fishers as they end up being price takers when selling to agents. D. Trading i. The main markets for local fishers are agents and individuals. Most fish from Lake Ngami was said to be sold to the foreign agents from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Limited locally captured fish was sold in informal markets around malls in Maun, Francistown and Gaborone primarily by fish agents. i The retail and hospitality industry is fully reliant on fish imports for their supplies. Local fishing industry is unable to produce special cuts (e.g. fillets) Page v

6 which are required by these establishments. The local industry only supplies whole fish to individuals and agents. The whole fish market in retail stores is also largely serviced by imports on account of the hygiene and safety requirements that cannot be assured by locally captured fish e.g. traceability. iv. There was no or limited post-harvest processing and preservation done locally. Most fish captured in the north-west region (Lake Ngami) was sold with little value addition (degutted and dry-salted) on site to foreign agents who were said to export to Zambia and DRC. v. This export market though available currently exploits local fishers as it dictates prices. The local fishers are not organised enough to be in a position to negotiate prices. Therefore, their individualistic nature renders them vulnerable to exploitation. The Association in the industry is at its infancy stage and fishers are still to recognise the benefits of acting in a group/cluster. vi. The import bill for fish and fish products as at 2013 and 2014 stood at P98 million and P124 million respectively. This shows an opportunity for local production to be encouraged to reduce imports. Exports stood at P4 million and P3 million respectively for the two years. E. Fish Farming i. Commercial fish farming is almost none existent; there are limited small scale projects (mainly experimental) which operate extensively in ponds. However, out of the four respondents, only one was in operation at the time of the study. However, the DWNP stated that there were seventeen small scale fish farming projects as at December Page vi

7 Government owned hatchery unit in Mmadinare is currently not operating optimally. The automation structure has not been in operation since 2011 and currently fingerlings are produced naturally in the outdoor ponds only. This hatchery supplies fingerlings to the dams as well as fish farmers around the country. In 2010, the production stood at fingerlings per annum but by 2014, the production had gone down to fingerlings which is an 85% reduction from the 2010 production figures. i Several efforts have been made to support fish farming in the country. However, fish farming has not taken off despite several initiatives by the government to provide assistance. The Aquaculture Development Strategy for Botswana was developed in The strategy was meant to guide the development of fish farming in the country. iv. Lessons from benchmark in South Africa and Zambia have shown that fish farming is viable but only if practiced intensively under controlled conditions. v. Fish farming is a highly capital intensive undertaking which requires government support and may only be available to the Medium and Large enterprises as a commercial venture. vi. Fish farming is the future production method of choice internationally due to consumers awareness and their informed demands including insistence on handling. F. Institutional support i. The environment at macro level including policies, finance, research and regulatory framework supports the fisheries sector. Finance is available in Page vii

8 the country but there are accessibility issues due to demands on collateral and failure to understand the fisheries industry by financial institutions. Fishing is regulated through provision of licenses by the Fisheries Division with a requirement for license holders to provide their capture statistics to the authorities on a monthly basis. i There is poor enforcement of this requirement and where it is done; there is perceived underreporting by the fishers. There were instances where single licenses were shared by many individuals. The result was that only landings from the licence holders were declared in the daily capture forms. In addition, licence holders who did not share licences with other individuals were still able to land more catch. iv. Poaching of fish was observed in the fishing areas since unlicensed fishers are able to fish due to low surveillance by the Department of Fisheries and other relevant authorities. v. Due to the identified underreporting and poaching; this study could not collate reliable figures on the output from the fishing areas. vi. There are land use conflicts as some of the fishing areas also attract livestock farmers who depend on the water bodies to water their animals. v The licensing system in Botswana is difficult to monitor due to the fact that it allows access to multiple water bodies. This has even made it impossible to determine production from each extension area. Therefore, Lake Ngami production was not ascertained which made it impossible to determine the number of individuals affected by the recently imposed fishing ban. This is because fishers can still fish in other areas outside the Lake. Page viii

9 vi This study noted that the Chobe River is shared with Namibia and Zimbabwe and during the closure for breeding purposes in the Botswana side; fishers in Namibia and Zimbabwe continue to fish on their side of the river. This was found to disadvantage the local fishers. ix. There is skills transfer in the country as mainly provided by the DWNP through extension services. The Botswana College of Agriculture offers an elective course on aquaculture in its curriculum. There is also a consultant who provides training in the country. G. Benchmarks i. Fish farming systems are available for sale in the RSA which could be used by local prestart and existing fish farm operations. These recirculating systems were found to require a high initial capital injection which in turn makes entry into fish farming prohibitive. Farming systems ranged from ZAR to ZAR The enterprises benchmarked on were willing to transfer skills to Batswana in the fisheries industry as part of the package in selling the farming systems. i In Lake Kariba, there is no closure due to breeding period hence the capture fisheries is continuous all year round. It has been established that it is difficult to regulate waters which are shared by more than one country, since the Lake is shared by Zambia and Zimbabwe. Page ix

10 H. Current Fisheries Value Chain Map Botswana Fisheries Value Chain Map- Current Situation Functions Domestic market Imports Export Market Institutional Support Enabling environment Exporting Zambia/Democratic Republic of Congo Government Departments, Parastatals &Private sector Trade Agreements Retailing Super markets & retailers Fish-Vendors/ Cooler box men Hotels & Lodges 128 Government Parastatal & BANKS Quality Standards and Fish- certifications Farmers Wholesale trading Local wholesalers Government Parastatal & BANKS Quality Standards and certifications Accumulating Agents 8 Policies & regulations Basic processing Production 729 FISHERS Fish-Farmers 4 University of Botswana Okavango Research Institute Infrastructure F: RDD: 11 Rev.:00

11 I. Proposed Value Chain Map BOTSWANA FISH VALUE CHAIN MAP-THE DESIRED SITUATION Functions Domestic market Export Market Institutional Support Enabling environment Exporting Zambia/Democratic Republic of Congo Government Departments, Parastatals &Private sector Trade Agreements Retailing Super markets Vendors/Cooler Box men Hotel& Lodges Government Parastatal & BANKS Quality Standards and certifications Wholesale trading Local wholesalers Government Parastatal & BANKS Quality Standards and Fish- certifications Farmers Processing Fish processing Companies Government Parastatal & BANKS Quality Standards and certifications Accumulating Fisheries Associations Fish Traders Policies & regulations Transportation Transportation companies Government Parastatal & BANKS Excellent roads & communications network Production FISHERS Fish- Farmers University of Botswana Okavango Research Institute & other institutions, ice making companies Infrastructure Page xi

12 J. Identified Business Opportunities This study identified the following business opportunities in the Fisheries Value Chain Industry subject to them being commercially appraised: 1. Establishment of Fish Feed Manufacturing Plant in the medium and long term. 2. Retailing of Fish Feed by local feed traders in the short term 3. Fingerlings production in the short term. 4. Re-modelling of the Mmadinare hatchery into a training and incubator for fish farming 5. Establishment of fish farms in the short to medium term. 6. Establishment of mobile fish collection centres on the fishing areas in the short term. 7. Establishment of fish processing facilities in high output fishing areas in the short term. Page xii

13 K. Recommendations 1. The LEA in collaboration with the DWNP should advocate for the development of the fish processing plant in the country to facilitate market access for locally captured fish. 2. The LEA should lobby the government to resuscitate the Mmadinare Hatchery into a training and incubation centre for fish farming. Fish farming is a high capital intensive investment which requires government support in its initial stages of operations. 3. The LEA in collaboration with the DWNP should support the fishers in the formation of clusters and establishment of mobile fish collection points with cold storage in the country. 4. LEA should lobby for the full implementation of the 2011 Aquaculture Strategy for Botswana, which should guide the government assistance in stimulating the aquaculture sub sector. 5. LEA should lobby the MEWT to improve its surveillance and monitoring of fishing to ensure sustainable harvesting. 6. The LEA should lobby the Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board to include fish feed in its stock for retailing to the fish farmers. Page xiii