Supporting healthy aquaculture in Lake Victoria
Aquaculture is a booming industry in eastern Africa, driven by economic opportunity and a flourishing population. On the shores of Lake Victoria in Tanzania, an international and multidisciplinary team co-led by the University of Sydney and the University of Glasgow has pinpointed the fundamental challenges that need to be tackled to sustain the industry’s development to ensure food security, environmental protection, and economic prosperity.
Tanzania’s population has dramatically expanded since the 1960s, growing from 8 million people to over 67 million today.
This growth has made aquaculture pivotal for Tanzanian food security and employment opportunities. Tilapia farming, in particular, has become a key player in the economy, compensating for the decrease in other key fish species in Lake Victoria.
Tanzania's tilapia industry is experiencing a rapid expansion, with cage numbers in Lake Victoria jumping from just over 100 in 2016 to nearly 1,000 in 2023 – a 10-fold increase in only seven years. This growth is part of a larger trend in aquaculture production, which has seen an increase from 4,790 tonnes to 33,525 tonnes of annual production within the same period, with cage aquaculture of tilapia in Lake Victoria being the largest contributor to this production volume.
This rapid trajectory led Tanzania’s Sokoine University of Agriculture, along with partner institutions the University of Sydney, University of Glasgow, and University of Stirling, to join forces to pinpoint the fundamental challenges that need to be tackled to sustain the development of cage aquaculture of tilapia in Lake Victoria.
“The approach we took was multidisciplinary in its foundation, to ensure all challenges could be addressed holistically and so that any proposed solutions wouldn’t have unintended consequences,” said University of Sydney project lead Dr Kerrie Wiley, a Senior Research Fellow with the Sydney School of Public Health.
The University of Sydney and the University have a strong history of collaborating on multidisciplinary research since 2018, particularly in addressing health inequalities and planetary health.
In Tanzania, that included bringing together a multi-disciplinary team of experts to facilitate a locally led analysis of the technical, environmental and structural challenges faced by the local tilapia farming industry, and formulating an action plan to address those challenges. The team of social scientists, health economists, veterinarians, and aquaculture experts working with a variety of Tanzanian aquaculture industry and government stakeholders, identified three strategic areas of focus for sustainable aquaculture in the region:
- capacity enhancement and training in areas like disease management and biosecurity;
- strengthening of infrastructure such as cage-side water monitoring and industry inputs such as feed and hatchling fish;
- and streamlining regulatory systems and requirements.
“The collaboration was a great success, generating strong, feasible solutions that were presented to the Tanzanian government and industry stakeholders for discussion, in preparation for a formal stakeholder report for action,” said Dr Francisca Samsing Pedrals from Sydney School of Veterinary Science, who was a co-investigator on the project.
"This is a great example of multidisciplinary work making a difference. Each of the team members brought their own disciplinary lens to the issues that were raised, working together to support the local stakeholders in coming up with a priority set of solutions," Dr Wiley added.
The findings were presented in person to Tanzanian aquaculture industry and government stakeholders and English and Swahili summaries of the project outcomes shared with participants. A manuscript detailing this novel cross-disciplinary approach is now in preparation.
With these strategic areas identified, this international collaboration lays the groundwork for a sustainable and thriving tilapia industry in Lake Victoria, ensuring that the sector's potential is fully realised for the benefit of Tanzania's economy and its people.
Hero image credit: Adobe Stock
