SADC FISHERIES FACT SHEET, VOLUME 1, NO. 3, July 2016
THE SADC PROTOCOL ON FISHERIES
FOCUS ON THE MALAWIAN FISHERIES
SECTOR
The Southern African Development
Community (SADC) is currently
composed of 15 Member States,
namely:
Angola,
Botswana,
Democratic Republic of Congo,
Lesotho,
Malawi,
Madagascar,
Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia,
Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland,
United Republic of Tanzania,
Zambia and Zimbabwe. The SADC
Vision is ‘one of a common future,
a future in a Regional Community
that
will
ensure
economic
wellbeing, improvement of the
standards of living and quality of
life, freedom and social justice
and peace and security for the
peoples of Southern Africa’.
The fisheries sector in SADC
countries, comprising marine and
inland
capture
fisheries
and
aquaculture, generates a variety of
benefits, including nutrition and food
security, livelihoods, employment,
exports and foreign currency and
conservation and biodiversity values
that are of global significance.
In order to optimize benefits from the fisheries and aquaculture SADC Heads of State in 2001 endorsed
the SADC Protocol on Fisheries. The Protocol aims to promote responsible and sustainable use of the
living aquatic resources and aquatic ecosystems of interest to State Parties, in order to (i) promote and
enhance food security and human health, (ii) safeguard the livelihood of fishing communities, (iii)
generate economic opportunities from nationals in the region, (iv) ensure that future generations benefit
from these renewable resources; and (v) alleviate poverty with the ultimate objective of its eradication.
Fish in Focus: Chambo, Oreochromis spp. This is the most popular and
favored fish in Malawi. This includes a few kinds of large cichlids that reach
to 30 cm. Some of them are found at offshore on the lake and another is
found at weedy point in the river. They usually swim in the water in groups.
SADC@2016 |SADC FISHERIES FACT SHEET, VOL. 1, NO. 3
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Malawian Statistics @ a Glance
Physical: Malawi is a landlocked country located in southern central
Africa along the western part of the Great Rift Valley of Africa. Covering
a total area of 118,484 km², it stretches some 900 km north to south,
and between 90 and 161 km east to west. Malawi is bordered by the
United Republic of Tanzania to the north and north east, Mozambique to
the east, south and south west, and Zambia to the west. The country is
divided into three regions: the Southern Region, which is undulating and
densely populated; the Central Region, which consists of fertile plains
and is well-populated; and the mountainous and sparsely populated
Northern Region. Lake Malawi is the third largest lake in Africa,
spanning a length of 568 km and a width of between 16 and 80 km. In
the north, the Rift Valley Escarpment rises steeply from the Lake,
reaching altitudes of 2,500m above sea-level. This area includes the
Nyika Plateau and the forested Viphya Plateau.
Socio-economic: The country has a population of about 17 million.
More than half of the population lives below the national poverty line and
the life expectancy is 55 years.
Languages: The main ethnic groups are the Chewa, Tumbuka, Yao
and Ngoni. English is the official and business language in Malawi, with
Chechewe being the national language, which is widely spoken
throughout the country, along with Chitumbuka, the dominant language
in the northern region.
Fisheries production: 149 315 tons of fish is produced annually (144
315 tons from capture fisheries and 5 000 from aquaculture). The value
provided by the fisheries sector as a whole is estimated at US$181
million. The fisheries sector employs about 170 000 people on fulltime
basis. Of these employed, almost 35% are fishers, 45% fish processors
and traders, 15% engaged in ancillary activities and 5% in aquaculture.
Women are heavily involved in the fish processing sector, accounting for
9.1% of the total workforce in fisheries and aquaculture.
Food and Nutritional Security and the Contribution of fisheries:
The per capita fish consumption is 6 kg per person, which accounts for
3% of total protein intake. 21% of Malawians are undernourished, with
17% of children under the age of five moderately or severely
underweight.
Malawian fisheries sector: Malawi's capture fisheries fall into three
broad categories: recreational, subsistence and commercial.
Commercial fishers are either large‐scale or small‐scale, small‐scale
commercial fishers may be self‐employed and/or employ outside labour
to undertake the fishing operation. 87% of fish landings come from
small-scale fishers which use a variety of gear including beach seines,
open water seines, gill-nets, fish traps and hooks. The vast majority is
brought onto the beaches. Commercial catches are landed at Monkey
bay and Maldeco’s fish landing quays. Tilapia and haplochromines are
important species captured. Aquaculture practices are mainly extensive
farming (chambo, and recently catfish).
© Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, Government of Malawi & SADC
SADC@2016 |SADC FISHERIES FACT SHEET, VOL. 1, NO. 3
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Malawian Fisheries Policy Reforms by Mr. Alexander Bulirani, Director of
Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, Government
of Malawi
The Government of the Republic of Malawi has prioritized fisheries and aquaculture in its national
development efforts in line with the SADC Protocol on Fisheries. To this end, the 2001 National Fisheries
and Aquaculture Policy (NFAP) has been guiding management of the fisheries resources in Malawi.
However, there has been policy shifts from natural resources conservation and management to
promoting sustainable production of fish for food security as well as income generation. Consequently,
on the 9th June 2016, the Government of Malawi approved the 2nd Edition of the National Fisheries and
Aquaculture Policy of 2016. While noting various challenges facing the fisheries sector, the goal of this
Policy is to promote sustainable fisheries and aquaculture development in order to contribute to
economic growth in Malawi. The Policy also focuses on enhancing fish quality and value addition for
domestic and export trade to create wealth, promoting technology development and its transfer to the
users, enhancing capacity for the sector’s development and promoting social development, decent
employment and fisheries governance through participatory resource management regimes.
The Policy aims to address critical issues affecting fisheries and aquaculture development in Malawi. The
major challenges include overfishing of commercial valuable fish species like Chambo, high post-harvest
losses, climate change, weak collaboration among stakeholders, and slow progress in aquaculture
development due to poor quality feeds and fingerlings.
There are several opportunities that exist in the implementation of this Policy. The on-going governance
reforms to ensure sustainability of the fisheries resources for future generations of Malawians. The
growing interest in aquaculture investment provides an impetus to sustained fish production for local and
export markets. The support that the fisheries sector gets from several partners also provides an
opportunity for wider participation of actors in the fishing industry in both fisheries and aquaculture.
The Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development of the Republic of
Malawi, Honorable Dr. George Chaponda, MP officially launched the 2nd Edition of
the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy at a ceremony held at the Sun N’
Sand Holiday Resort in Mangochi @ Lake Malawi, on the 18th August 2016
© Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, Government of Malawi
SADC@2016 |SADC FISHERIES FACT SHEET, VOL. 1, NO. 3
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Lake Malawi (The Lake of Stars): fish and fisheries
Lakes, rivers and oceans are three major environments that the
fish lives. Since a lot of water is kept closed inside the lake, the
environment of the lake does not change easily. It is also true,
however, that the lake environment cannot be recovered easily
once it is damaged. Life span of a lake is generally about some
10,000 years, for the lake keep becoming shallower because of
the soil from the rivers. However, Lake Malawi and other African
Great Lakes have especially long history, and they are still
becoming deeper. Lake Malawi is thought to be about
3,000,000 years old.
Lake Malawi is known to the world with its enormous variety of
the fishes. 500-1000 different species of fish are found, and
most of these fish are found only in Lake Malawi. 90% of these
fishes belong to the family called “Cichlid”, which includes
Utaka, Mbuna, Mcheni and many other kinds. It is thought that
all of these 500 different cichlids have developed from the same
origin, for about 2,000,000 years.
There are some other kinds of fish which live in the Lake, and
most of them are also found only in Malawi. Catfishes such as
Kampango, Bombe, cyprinid fishes such as Usipa, Ningwe,
Nchila, Mpasa and Sanjika. Lake Malawi is clearly a global
biodiversity hotspot containing more fish species than any other
lake in the world.
The fisheries and their associated value chains are a source of
food security and livelihoods for a large portion of the lakeshore
community. Population growth and increased commercialization
of the fisheries in the 1990s caused overfishing. The collapse in
these fisheries resulted in the realization that the top-down
management had failed to ensure sustainable utilization. As a
result, a number of co-management projects were initiated with
support from a variety of donors. Now the second Edition of the
National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy seeks to address this
challenge
Some of the popular fish species found in Lake Malawi
Utaka Copadichromis spp.
Usipa Engraulicypris spp.
Matemba Barbus paludinosus
Kampango Bagrus meridionalis
Mbuna Tropheus spp. etc.
Mcheni Rhamphochromis spp.
© MBERU/LMEP
SADC@2016 |SADC FISHERIES FACT SHEET, VOL. 1, NO. 3
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Rapid drop in Lake Malawi’s water levels drives down fish stocks
About 1.5 million
people depend on
the lake for food –
including
popular
Chambo fish – and
Malawians
are
alarmed at decline in
stocks.
Years ago, it was the
norm to catch about
5,000 fish a day, but
now, fishers catch
about one-fifth of
that, or even as less
as a mere 300 fish a
day.
The
rapid
drop
in Lake
Malawi's water levels,
driven by population
growth,
climate
change
and
deforestation,
is
threatening its flora
and fauna species
with extinction.
Over the last three
decades some water
balance models have
been done on the
lake and have shown that the water levels have dropped from 477
metres above sea level in the 1980s to around 474m of the 29,600 sq
km lake that straddles the borders of Malawi, Mozambique
and Tanzania.
The “Lake of Stars”,
coined by explorer David
Livingstone
is
a
UNESCO World Heritage
Site
The need to arrest the loss of
biodiversity is particularly
important in Malawi, where
people depend on biological
resources to a greater extent
than they do in other parts of
the world.
Fish stocks have depleted
because of unsustainable
fishing practices and noncompliance
with
fishing
regulations.
The
unsustainable cutting down of
trees for fuel is also affecting
the quality of the water and
the smoke from cooking fires
is affecting people’s health.
Fishermen in villages have
been working with local
authorities to address the
threats and challenges facing
the conservation of Lake
Malawi but we have to do
more. We need to constantly
educate
villagers
about
responsible
fishing
and
conservation and help restore
fish stocks and you can help.
© The Guardian and ResponseAbility Alliance and Science 2.0, University of Arizona
SADC@2016 |SADC FISHERIES FACT SHEET, VOL. 1, NO. 3
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Maldeco Fisheries
For over 20 years, The Foods Company trading as Maldeco
Fisheries has harvested, processed and marketed fish from
the fresh waters of Lake Malawi. Based in Mangochi District,
Maldeco Fisheries is a wholly owned subsidiary of Press
Corporation Limited and is engaged in commercial fishing in
the Southern and Central parts of Lake Malawi.
From its headquarters in Mangochi, Maldeco ensures the
highest quality fish products by managing its catch from the
nets of the fishing vessels through high standard sorting and
processing facilities to premium quality fish products.
The Company started its operations in the late 1950’s as a
family enterprise. In 1968, the Company was bought by
Malawi development Corporation who in turn sold it to
ADMARC in 1985. ADMARC sold the company to Press
Corporation Limited in November 1989.
Maldeco is the largest commercial fishing and processing
company in Malawi and thus the largest single supplier of fish
in Malawi. Fishing is done using three stern trawlers. The
annual catch amounts to over 70% of the total commercial
catch and about 7% of the total Lake Malawi catch, which
fluctuates between 26,000 tons and 47,000 tons annually.
© Maldeco fisheries, Press Corporation Limited
Chambo fisheries: The largest bio-flock tank farm in the world opened in Malawi
Chambo stock is the type of tasty fish found only in
Malawi. Some of the fish weighs 500grams to 1kilogram
and big in size. The opening of the fish farm comes at a
time when Chambo fish is getting depleted in Lake Malawi
due to over fishing.
The company is also constructing other fish ponds to raise
different other species of fish. Chambo Fisheries, owned
by Pacific Group of Companies, was introduced in Malawi
in order to preserve the much needed Chambo stock.
Chambo Fisheries uses the Bio-Floc Water system whose
maximum temperatures are 29 degrees Celsius, under a
special kind of heating and lighting. In here, the parents do
mate and the eggs are later taken to incubators after three
weeks. The water system is also very powerful as special
machineries are meant to filter any kind of dirt from the
water. The incubators separate the eggs until they start
turning into small fish for about at least a week. The other
processes, entail letting the fish grow with all day, all night
automated feeding system in the tanks whose water is
also cleaned automatically.
© Lawilink
SADC@2016 |SADC FISHERIES FACT SHEET, VOL. 1, NO. 3
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Low-tech solar tents boosts Malawi’s fish industry
Fishing communities in Malawi are getting higher prices for their dried fish thanks to
simple solar drying technology
A project to provide fishing communities around Lake Malawi with a cheap and effective way to dry their
catch is boosting earnings and improving lives. Made from a polythene sheet and a simple wooden frame,
the drying tents have been designed to trap warm air inside and dry the fish faster, even during rainy
weather.
Researchers estimate that for every 10 fish caught, four are spoiled and their value lost before they can
be sold, largely because they rot during the drying process. For those making their living from selling
dried fish, the solar tent has resulted in cleaner and better-quality fish, which fetch higher prices and have
a longer shelf life. Despite dwindling fish stocks in Lake Malawi, dried fish remains a primary source of
protein for many people in the region and contributes about 4 percent of the country‘s GDP.
Before using the solar tents, the fish were dried in the open on wire racks. During the rainy season they
would often spoil before being properly dried, forcing them to be thrown out or reducing the prices they
fetch at market. The low-tech solar tents are having another unexpected effect on the areas where they
have been built. By drying the fish using the sun's energy, there is now no need to cut down trees which
were formerly used to smoke the fish.
The project, which also operates in Zambia, is funded by Canada’s International Development Research
Centre and the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research. It is continuing to modify the
design of the drying tent, to ensure that it delivers the right balance of ventilation and warmth. Once the
design is finalised the project plans to roll it out to more communities in eastern and central Malawi.
© Al Jazeera
SADC@2016 |SADC FISHERIES FACT SHEET, VOL. 1, NO. 3
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Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR)- one of the
Centre of Excellence for Fisheries and Aquaculture in the Region
During the visit to Malawi, discussions between SADC Secretariat
represented by Dr. Motseki Hlatshwayo, Lilongwe University of
Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) represented by Prof
Emmanuel Kaunda, and World Fish Centre (WFC) represented by Dr.
Sloans Chimatiro, were held on the sidelines of the launch of the 2nd
Edition of the Malawian National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy. These
discussions were based on reviving the SADC fisheries sector to bring it
back to its glory days. One of the key areas that need to be addressed,
which has been identified in a lot of policies in the region, and recently in
the SADC Regional Aquaculture Strategy and Action Plan, is capacity
building. The region used to run a very successful project titled “Regional
Aquaculture Training Program” between 2000 and 2005 which was based
at then Bunda College of Agriculture (BCA) of the University of Malawi.
The main objective of the project was to create a center of excellence in
training and research in aquaculture and fisheries science in Malawi and
the SADC region. This objective was in accordance with the vision of the
BCA, which was to advance and promote knowledge, skills and selfreliance for i) sustainable food production and utilization, ii) improving
income, food security and nutrition of the rural and urban populations, and
iii) conservation and management of biodiversity, natural resources and
environment through the provision of information services, teaching and
training, research, outreach and consultancy in response to national,
regional and international needs.
This program had since lapsed and has had successes and some
challenges. There are a lot of lessons learned and recommendations from
its evaluation that can be used to formulate a new regional training
program based on the renewed impetus in the region.
For instance, the program had helped to promote the development of
aquaculture in the region. Since then, more and more countries in the
region have taken up the aquaculture challenge, but skills and capacities
remain a challenge as more fish farmers continue to struggle with limited
technical support. A need was identified to revitalize this program, but to
use lessons learned from implementation of its precursor and from other
programs of the same nature implemented in the region. Some recent
developments provide an opportunity for this revitalization project and
give further support and impetus. These developments includes the
transformation of the BCA into a full university, now called LUANAR;
establishment of the NEPAD Fish Node at LUANAR, and the Secretariat
of the African Fisheries Experts Network (AFRIFISHNET); recognition of
LUANAR as the World Bank Centre of Excellence; and the recently
finalized SADC Regional Aquaculture Strategy and Action Plan (RASAP).
Prof. E.W.K. Kaunda, Deputy
Vice-Chancellor of LUANAR
The University hosted a
successful
International
Dialogue
on
Climate
Change and Fisheries in
2015.
It was agreed that a proposal for the “SADC Regional Inland Fisheries
and Aquaculture Training Program 2017-2020” be developed in
partnership with LUANAR and WFC, and the SADC Secretariat will then
engage the international cooperating partners (ICPs) to fund this program.
Other partners which were identified include Michigan State University
(MSU) and the FAO.
© LUANAR and SADC
SADC@2016 |SADC FISHERIES FACT SHEET, VOL. 1, NO. 3
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WorldFish
is
an
international,
nonprofit research organization that
is committed to conduct research
that harnesses the potential of
fisheries and aquaculture to reduce
hunger and poverty. This is done
mainly
through
generation
of
technologies
for
sustainable
intensification
of
aquaculture;
sustaining fish production systems,
especially for small-scale fisheries;
and improving fish value-chains in
order to improve nutrition and health,
especially for the lactating mothers
and infants during their first 1000
days of life. WorldFish is a member
of the Consultative Group for
International Agricultural Research
(CGIAR),
a
global
agriculture
research partnership for a food
secure future.
The WorldFish work in Africa started in Malawi in 1987 when a
strategic partnership with the Government of Malawi and the
University of Malawi was established to support the country build
a critical mass of scientists at the same time develop appropriate
technologies for integrated agriculture-aquaculture farming
systems. The Country Office in Malawi, based in Zomba, is one of
the few on the continent, and the second in the SADC region. The
country office is currently involved in the following projects in
Malawi, “Building social and ecological resilience in Lake Chilwa
Basin” and “Managing ecosystem services for food security and
the nutritional health of the rural poor in Malawi”.
© WorldFish
African Fisheries Experts Network (AFRI-FISHNET)- Unlocking the Potential of
Aquaculture and Fisheries in Africa
The African Fisheries Experts Network (Afri-FishNet) is a
network of fisheries experts in Africa, drawn from aquaculture
and fisheries fields, both inland and marine. This is a NEPAD
initiative that was developed under the Partnership for African
Fisheries (PAF) program. Afri-FishNet is a continental thinktank where African researchers and educators share and work
with community, business and policy partners to unlock the
wealth from the African waters and safeguard it for future
generations.
The network is aimed at promoting collaboration and
networking for knowledge generation, management and
sharing among researchers and other stakeholders for
enhanced aquatic biodiversity, sustainable fisheries and
aquaculture production, food supplies, market and trade
options and economic potential in Africa; and to also enable
knowledge-based fisheries and aquaculture management
strategy informs the sector’s contribution towards the 6%
annual growth (CAADP) in the agricultural sector.
The Secretariat of Afri-FishNet is
currently based at the Lilongwe
University of Agriculture and Natural
Resources (LUANAR)/Bunda College,
in Lilongwe, Malawi
© Afri-FishNet
SADC@2016 |SADC FISHERIES FACT SHEET, VOL. 1, NO. 3
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This is a publication of the SADC Secretariat
Supported by the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), Centre for
Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA), World
Fish Centre (WFC) Zambia Office and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Southern Africa Office
For more information:
Dr. Motseki Hlatshwayo
Technical Advisor: Fisheries
Natural Resources Management Unit
Directorate: Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources
SADC Secretariat,
Gaborone, Botswana
Email: [email protected]
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