Markets, Marketing and Production Issues for Aquaculture in East Africa: The Case of Uganda

Aquaculture is currently responsible for an insignificant proportion of total fish production in Uganda. However, given increasing demand for fresh fish in urban and peri-urban areas, and threats to the supply of fish from natural catch fisheries there seems to be a potentially strong market for fish and fish products produced by aquaculturalists. Small-scale fish farmers that are relatively close to markets or all season roads, and can supply consistent and high quality produce, will have the widest range of marketing opportunities, and will likely be within the scope of potential traders and intermediaries that deliver fish to markets. Fish farmers that are not close to roads, or produce unreliable quantities and quality of product may face high transactions costs of marketing their product, decreasing net returns to production. We also find that significant on-farm labor, and access to input markets are important factors leading to positive net returns to fish production. Areas with high population density and relatively low wage rates will be well suited to labor intense aquaculture. We conclude that aquaculture development has good potential in certain areas of Uganda and should therefore be pursued as a potential development pathway. However, policy makers should consider the importance of the price of fresh fish relative to the cost of labor, as well as other factors including the importance of smallholder credit and access to extension services when directing investments in aquaculture technology.