Local Enterprise Authority

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FISHERIES VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS STUDY IN BOTSWANA

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DIVISION

LOCAL ENTERPRISE AUTHORITY

APRIL 2015

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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.

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Specific Objectives of the study

i. Establish key actors of the Botswana’s fisheries value chain

ii. Establish production volumes and values for fish and fish products

iii. Establish production technologies in the fish industry

iv. 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. Map the current Botswana’s fisheries value chain

vii. Establish policy, regulatory and industry related developments and

constraints within the fisheries value chain framework

viii. 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.

ii. 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.

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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.

ii. 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.

iii. 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 2016. 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.

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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.

ii. 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).

iii. 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).

ii. Limited locally captured fish was sold in informal markets around malls in

Maun, Francistown and Gaborone primarily by fish agents.

iii. 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)

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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 2014.

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ii. 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 38 000 fingerlings per annum

but by 2014, the production had gone down to 6 000 fingerlings which is an

85% reduction from the 2010 production figures.

iii. 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 2011. 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

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the country but there are accessibility issues due to demands on collateral

and failure to understand the fisheries industry by financial institutions.

ii. 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.

iii. 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.

vii. 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.

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viii. 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

ZAR643 029.00 to ZAR1 352 667.00.

ii. 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.

iii. 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.

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H. Current Fisheries Value Chain Map

FISHERS

Accumulating

Wholesale trading

Fish-FarmersProduction

Retailing

Exporting

Functions Domestic market

Export Market

Agents

8

Local wholesalers

Super markets & retailers

Fish-Vendors/ Cooler box men

Hotels & Lodges

128

Zambia/Democratic Republic of Congo

Basic processing

Institutional Support

Enabling environment

InfrastructureUniversity of Botswana Okavango Research Institute

Fish-Farmers

Government Departments,Parastatals &Private sector

Trade Agreements

Quality Standards and certificationsGovernment Parastatal &

BANKS

Government Parastatal & BANKS

Quality Standards and certifications

Policies & regulations

Botswana Fisheries Value Chain Map- Current Situation

729

4

Imports

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I. Proposed Value Chain Map

FISHERS

Accumulating

Processing

Fish-Farmers

Production

Wholesale trading

Retailing

Exporting

Functions Domestic market

Export Market

Fisheries Associations

Fish Traders

Fish processing Companies

Local wholesalers

Zambia/Democratic Republic of Congo

Vendors/Cooler Box men

Transportation companies

Institutional Support

Enabling environment

InfrastructureUniversity of Botswana Okavango Research Institute & other institutions, ice making

companies

Quality Standards and certifications

Fish-Farmers

Government Departments,Parastatals &Private sector

Trade Agreements

Quality Standards and certifications

Government Parastatal & BANKS

Government Parastatal & BANKS

Government Parastatal & BANKS

Quality Standards and certifications

Policies & regulations

Super markets

Hotel& Lodges

Transportation Government Parastatal & BANKS

Excellent roads & communications network

BOTSWANA FISH VALUE CHAIN MAP-THE

DESIRED SITUATION

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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.

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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.