High costs of feeds and the lingering ban on fish exports to the United States are major headwinds facing fish farmers in Nigeria and dampening the growth of the sector.
Nigeria has recorded tremendous growth in its fish production in recent years as output has increased from less than 500,000 metric tonnes (MT) in 2011 to 1.1 million MT in 2017, data from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture states. The most recent data from the World Bank on the country’s fish production shows that the 2017 figure has declined marginally to 1.04 million MT in 2020.
However, since the US enforced a ban on Nigeria’s exports in March 2018 over its failure to provide the Self Reporting Tool (SRT) requirement for smoked catfish (Siluriformes), the momentum gained in the industry has slowed.
“Till now, we can’t export, and of course it has effects,” said Momoh Mustapha, national president of Catfish and Allied Fish Farmers Association of Nigeria.
“When we have where to push or sell our fish and when we have quick off-takers, a lot of people in the industry will be encouraged to increase production,” he said.
He urged the government to address the issue of the ban, saying it has lingered for too long. “That ban on catfish export has to be lifted for our local industry to tap export opportunities.”
Locally, demand for farmed fish has also been on the decline with farmers complaining of low patronage that is further compounded by the country’s recent naira crunch, experts say.
“People are not buying like before because of the high price. They would rather go for imported fishes which are relatively cheaper,” Adeolu Onifade, a small-scale catfish farmer around Agbado/Ijaiye area of Lagos, told BusinessDay.
Fish feeds, which account for up to 70 percent of production cost, according to the CAFFAN, have increased by over 50 percent since last year and tripled farmers’ production costs.
The prices of fish feed are surging owing to foreign exchange volatility as over 90 percent of it is imported. The country’s accelerating inflation weakened the naira by 14.9 percent in 2022, according to a report by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group.
Since 2022, the price of a kilo of catfish and tilapia has surged by over 20 percent, experts say. BusinessDay’s survey of some markets across Lagos shows that a kilo of catfish sells between N1,500 and N1,800 depending on the location.
Checks with Anuoluwapo Seafood market in Victoria Island, Lagos, show that a kilo of tilapia now sells for N2,700 and N3,000, whereas a kilo went for N2,500 earlier in the year.
A 15 kg bag of fish feed, which was sold for N11,000 early last year, now sells for between N20,600 and N24,000, depending on the variety. Foreign feeds like Aller aqua and Coppens (15kg) now sell for as high as N24,000-N23,600, according to BusinessDay’s checks.
“Since January last year, they keep adding around N100-N300, in the space of about 1-2 months, to the cost of feed,” said Ejiro Diemijenyo, owner of Agrostock Farms Limited, Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos.
Remi Ahmed, national president of the Tilapia and Aquaculture Developers Association of Nigeria, said that domestically and internationally, the market is contracting for Nigeria’s fish products.
“This owes to reasons such as cost implication, preference for imported fish, and the naira scarcity as well as the ban on our catfish. And for these reasons, importation of fish has been on the rise,” Ahmed said.
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Over 50 percent of fish that Nigerians are consuming today are being imported, according to CAFFAN.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that Nigeria’s fish imports declined by 53.84 percent to N122.5 billion in 2022 from N265.4 billion in 2021.
Experts attributed the decline in 2022 imports to the Russia-Ukraine war, noting that it slowed down imports from the region and Europe. Nigeria’s fish import increased by 41.5 percent to N265.4 billion in 2021 from N187.6 billion in 2020.
Growth in the country’s fishing industry grew 3.33 percent in 2019, slowed to 0.26 percent in 2020 and grew marginally in 2021 to 1.16 percent. In 2022, the growth slowed to 0.47 percent.
Also, investments in the sector declined by 76 percent from $37.7 million in 2021 to $9 million in 2022.
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