News & Views Hatchery Operations
New €2M fund to support aquaculture in East Africa

The newly-formed Samaki Poa consortium is allocating €2 million (US$2.7 million) with a focus on building capacity in the aquaculture value chain in East Africa.

Samaki Poa, meaning “cool” or “awesome” fish in Swahili, is formed by five stakeholders from East Africa and Europe – Blue Planet AS, Lake Harvest Group Pvt Ltd., Larive International B.V., Lattice Aquaculture Ltd., and Skretting/Tunga Nutrition. The consortium is funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.

According to a press statement, €2-million the project will contribute to the local economy, with a specific focus on “women and youth to participate in the capacity-building activities to seize the economic opportunities in the sector.”

The consortium is also developing an e-curriculum for tilapia and catfish farming, which will be freely available on www.howtodoaquaculture.com.

“The aim is to reach over 10,000 current and aspiring fish farmers throughout the continent. To make the content accessible even for those without internet access, five Tunga Nutrition farm supply hubs will be upgraded to allow for on-site training,” the consortium wrote in a statement.

A new Aquaculture Academy will also be established in Jinja, Uganda, following the success of the Aquaculture Academy in Kenya. In both countries, aquaculture specialists from the consortium will train 1200+ fish farmers on the most important dimensions of the trade.

“We are elated with the skillset brought together in this consortium. From fish feeds, hatchery, farming, training, and digital content creations…all necessary expertise is brought together for maximum sector benefit. We are thankful to Norad for making this possible,” said Wouter van Vliet, project coordinator at Larive International.