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Aquaculture Extension in Sub-Saharan Africa

Document format: pdf

Publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization

Creation date: 2004

As part of a regional review of aquaculture being undertaken by the Inland Water Resources and Aquaculture Service, through the Regional Office for Africa (Accra, Ghana) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), this document reviews the recent history of aquaculture extension in five representative countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Country reviews were commissioned, analysed and synthesized. A number of extension guides, field manuals and dissemination tools were compared. Each of the reviewed countries has a similar history of aquaculture development, beginning with colonial experiments in the 1950s, through a period of neglect following independence in the 1960s, a period of intense international involvement in small-scale rural development (including aquaculture) in the 1970s and 80s ending in a period of reflection on results in the 1990s. Many of these past projects were driven by foreign donors interested primarily in poverty alleviation and working on the basis of national food security targets, ignoring the desires and constraints faced by would-be producers and beneficiaries. Working within the broader context of rural development, rather than the somewhat simpler world of commercial aquaculture technology has created problems for poorly trained and motivated extension agents. New participatory paradigms have been incorporated into policy and planning, but are generally not reflected in the day-to-day work of either research or extension, leading to low rates of adoption and project sustainability. Extension systems based on the Training and Visit model continue to dominate aquaculture extension in Africa, but more sustainable gains made through participatory approaches are leading more and more governments in the direction of farmer-led approaches.

Key Words: UN • FAO • African Aquaculture • Sub-Saharan Aquaculture • Aquaculture Extension