By OLIVER SAMBOKO
THE high cost of fish feed and equipment if not addressed will result in most small-scale farmers who got loans from Government failing to pay back, the Small-Scale Fish Farmers Association (SSFFA) has warned.
Recently, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation stated that the cost of key ingredients in fish feed, have increased as much as 50 percent in recent years.
SSFFA chairperson Victor Chatilika, said fish farmers were spending over 75 percent of their income on production which may result in failure to repay loans they acquired from the Citizens Empowerment Economic Commission (CEEC).
Mr Chatilika said the rise in the cost of feed would trigger an increase in the prices of fish on the local market, which will lead in most households failing to meet their daily nutrition needs.
He said the high cost of feed has also resulted in some farmers using low quality fish feed which was causing stunted growth and low weight of fish.
“Because of the high cost feed, farmers have no choice but to minimiseproduction cost by using low quality feeds,” he said. He added that this has also negatively affected the taste and growth of fish, especially tilapia,” Mr Chatilika said.
He said because of the high cost of feed most small-scale farmers were failing to compete favourably with big farmers who have access to cheaper implements from abroad.
“Fish feed taking about 75 percent of fish production cost; how many farmers can cope with that, it will be difficult for most of our members to pay back the CEEC loan,” he said.
Mr Chatilika said Government should consider introducing subsidies on fish feed to bring down the cost of production. He said subsidising fish feed would make the aquaculture subsector profitable.
