WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • DECEMBER 2016 11 My personal favorite was the fish cookery demonstration by school children that took place at the start of the event that also recorded their associated field trips to Scottish fish and mussel farming businesses. I gave a talk in Vietnam at the annual Vietstock event in Ho Chi Minh City on the growth, decline and shifts in fish markets in the EU, US, Japan and China and my research for that presentation provided some alarming figures for in particular changing eating habits, resultant food demand and as a consequence food supply and human health. The switch to Western diets in Japan for instance has significantly reduced its per capita intake of fish due to the influx and growth of western styled red and white meats being promoted in fast food in the market place. This has also resulted in cardiac health decline, obesity and associated negative health effects. Similarly, even in China, an aquaculture global powerhouse, heart health, which was of the highest standard due to the consumption of oily fish that was previously predominant in the diet, is declining due to increasing demand for the less feed efficient production of red meat and poultry. This emphasizes a further need for organizations like AwF to get their story across in developing countries to promote aquaculture for nutrition, livelihoods and health. Pleasingly the trade sponsorship for the Vietnam talk and involvement in the event of International Aquafeed magazine will provide valuable funds to support the transport, accommodation and training (together with sponsorship from participating organizations) of a to be selected young Vietnamese fish producer to train in Thailand on an intensive one-week aquaculture course. We then travelled to Ethiopia and arrived while a declared ‘state of emergency’ was in progress, although the capital Addis Ababa revealed little of the situation other than internet restrictions being imposed. We held meetings with the Ethiopian millers association to discuss the processing of faba (or fava) beans for aquafeed use and also visited an industry event to discuss bean production in the favorable climate of the region. Beans are produced in the cooler conditions of the uplands with the high levels of solar radiation that proximity to the equator provides. Ethiopia is the world’s second largest exporter of faba beans, running only behind China, thus giving an indication of high quality protein aqua feed potential for not only Ethiopia but neighboring African countries around Lake Victoria. A recent UNIDO project revealed that Ethiopia has rich water resources well suited to aquaculture development and this is coupled with the country currently being one of the lowest per capita consumers of fish on the African continent. It is a landlocked country but has the benefit of the Blue Nile River and numerous lakes and reservoirs where only basic artisanal fishing is currently practiced. Technological development and benefits for the farming population are extremely restricted in this one of the poorest countries of the African continent. With a population of over 100 million, of which half are below 18 and many with young families, the food security situation is one that has merited concerted effort and sometimes global attention over a long period. This food security requirement further emphasizes the potential role of high-quality fish protein in the diet for particularly the benefit of expectant or young mothers and their children. Couple this to the intrinsic feed efficiency of aquaculture compared to other forms of land-based animal protein production of lower quality and the potential for aquaculture becomes obvious. Aquaculture has the potential of producing large quantities of lower-cost, protein-rich food and at the same time contributing to the livelihoods of the rural poor while it generates food of high nutritional value. Aquaculture therefore is the most important potential source of growth in fish supply for human consumption. However fish protein in Ethiopia accounts for 0.1% of protein in the diet, and nearly all is sourced from fisheries as opposed to aquaculture which is a nascent industry in Ethiopia. Over our week’s visit we enjoyed a series of meetings with industry players and the Ethiopian government at the ministerial level and now plan to have something worthwhile to discuss at the WAS conference in Cape Town next year. I have also personally pledged to avail my senior diplomatic contacts with the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development to the WAS 2017 Cape Town event in my role as Goodwill Ambassador to AU/ NEPAD. I believe this forthcoming WAS event represents a major opportunity for Africa to benefit from the best brains, motivators and communicators in the industry and I am personally very excited at the prospects and potential for African development. — Clifford Spencer, Chairman – AwF UK Clifford Spencer, Roger Gilbert and Janice Spencer of AwF UK in Vietnam.
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