A REVIEW OF OVER A DECADE OF GLOBAL INVESTMENT IN AQUACULTURE FEED TECHNOLOGIES

Investment in science and innovation is fundamental to developing effective solutions to global food security challenges, and transferring information and technologies to farmers and industry is essential for scaling up farming technologies and best practices for broad adoption. Capturing the quantitative impacts of investment in research and capacity building requires identifying relevant indicators and metrics, setting targets and benchmarks, and regular monitoring and evaluation of progress. Qualitative impacts, however, are much more challenging to capture and yet of equal importance.

The authors undertook an internal evaluation of the impacts of USAID's investment in a research program that has been funded since late 2006, The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Aquaculture & Fisheries (AquaFish Innovation Lab, previously AquaFish Collaborative Research Support Program). For a decade, AquaFish has partnered with US and host country individuals and institutions to undertake innovative aquaculture research; develop new and improved technologies that are relevant to local conditions and on-the ground needs; transfer information and technologies to fish farmers, industry, academics, government agencies, and others; and enhance individual and institutional capacity so that host countries can build upon successes and lead new lines of research once the program ends.

This review capture both qualitative and quantitative outputs and impacts of AquaFish work in aquaculture feed technologies in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. With feeds comprising the greatest production cost for fish farmers (about 60-80%), the development and transfer of sustainable and affordable feeds and feed strategies for small- and medium-scale aquaculture has been a significant portion of the AquaFish research portfolio. AquaFish has successfully developed solutions on alternative feeding strategies and feed ingredients that decrease production costs, reduce reliance on animal protein content in feeds, increase overall fish yield, and decrease environmental impacts associated with aquaculture effluents. The review considered innovativeness of the technology, stage of development, technology transfer, impacts, and scalability. Some highlighted feed technologies include: alternate day feeding in the Philippines and Bangladesh that improves farmer profits and reduces effluents, feed formulations for snakehead in Cambodia and Vietnam that utilizes soy protein, and feed development for tilapia in Tanzania that replaces fish meal with earthworm and maggot meal.

AquaFish has advanced sustainable aquaculture globally by developing and transferring these technologies and best management practices to small- and medium-scale producers and other stakeholders. Finding ways to reduce feed costs and responsibly include locally sourced ingredients will continue to have significant and long-lasting benefits for the fish farming sector and more broadly.