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Socio-economic and biological impacts of the fish-based feed industry for sub-Saharan Africa












Thiao, D. and Bunting, S.W. 2021. Socio-economic and biological impacts of the fish-based feed industry for sub-Saharan Africa. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Circular No. 1236. Rome, FAO, WorldFish and University of Greenwich, Natural Resources Institute. 




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    A review on culture, production and use of spirulina as food for humans and feeds for domestic animals 2008
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    Spirulina are multicellular and filamentous blue-green microalgae belonging to two separate genera Spirulina and Arthrospira and consists of about 15 species. Of these, Arthrospira platensis is the most common and widely available spirulina and most of the published research and public health decision refers to this specific species. It grows in water, can be harvested and processed easily and has significantly high macro- and micronutrient contents. In many countries of Africa, it is us ed as human food as an important source of protein and is collected from natural water, dried and eaten. It has gained considerable popularity in the human health food industry and in many countries of Asia it is used as protein supplement and as human health food. Spirulina has been used as a complementary dietary ingredient of feed for poultry and increasingly as a protein and vitamin supplement to aquafeeds. Spirulina appears to have considerable potential for development, especiall y as a small-scale crop for nutritional enhancement, livelihood development and environmental mitigation. FAO fisheries statistics (FishStat) hint at the growing importance of this product. Production in China was first recorded at 19 080 tonnes in 2003 and rose sharply to 41 570 tonnes in 2004, worth around US$7.6 millions and US$16.6 millions, respectively. However, there are no apparent figures for production in the rest of the world. This suggests that despite the widespread public ity about spirulina and its benefits, it has not yet received the serious consideration it deserves as a potentially key crop in coastal and alkaline areas where traditional agriculture struggles, especially under the increasing influence of salination and water shortages. There is therefore a role for both national governments – as well as intergovernmental organizations – to re-evaluate the potential of spirulina to fulfill both their own food security needs as well as a tool for their overseas development and emergency response efforts. International organization(s) working with spirulina should consider preparing a practical guide to small-scale spirulina production that could be used as a basis for extension and development methodologies. This small-scale production should be orientated towards: (i) providing nutritional supplements for widespread use in rural and urban communities where the staple diet is poor or inadequate; (ii) allowing diversification from tr aditional crops in cases where land or water resources are limited; (iii) an integrated solution for waste water treatment, small-scale aquaculture production and other livestock feed supplement; and (iv) as a shortand medium-term solution to emergency situations where a sustainable supply of high protein/high vitamin foodstuffs is required. A second need is a better monitoring of global spirulina production and product flows. The current FishStat entry which only includes China is o bviously inadequate and the reason why other countries are not included investigated. Furthermore, it would be beneficial if production was disaggregated into different scales of development, e.g. intensive, semi-intensive and extensive. This would allow a better understanding of the different participants involved and assist efforts to combine experience and knowledge for both the further development of spirulina production technologies and their replication in the field. A third need is to develop clear guidelines on food safety aspects of spirulina so that human health risks can be managed during production and processing. Finally, it would be useful to have some form of web-based resource that allows the compilation of scientifically robust information and statistics for public access. There are already a number of spirulina-related websites (e.g. www.spirulina.com, www.spirulinasource.com) – whilst useful resources, they lack the independent scientific credibilit y that is required.
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    A synthesis of the formulated animal and aquafeeds industry in sub-Saharan Africa. 2005
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    This document contains five country reviews (South Africa, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya and Zambia) and one regional synthesis paper on the animal and aquafeed industry in sub-Saharan Africa. Surveys of the existing aquaculture and aquafeed industries were undertaken with the purpose to determine the status of commercial aquafeed production in sub-Saharan Africa, and to provide an indication of the region’s potential to produce aquafeeds. Main findings were the following: • Aquaculture prod uction reported for the five countries was found to vary between 1 000 and 30 776 tonnes per annum. While Nigeria was the largest producer, Zambia reported the lowest production. • Nigeria was the largest producer of manufactured aquafeeds (10 760 tonnes both in 2000 and 2001). • With the exception of South Africa, farm-made feeds were found to supply a significant proportion of all the countries’ aquafeed requirements. • Major feed ingredients that are used in livestock feed production were generally available across the region. In some countries, difficulties were reported in obtaining supplies of fish oils as well as specialised vitamin and mineral mixes. • A projection of future aquafeed requirements for 2015 suggests that all countries will have the potential to produce sufficient aquafeeds using existing production capacities. • Key indicators identified for a country’s ability to produce aquafeeds were existing livestock feed manufacturing capacity, availability of s uitable feed ingredients for incorporation into aquafeeds, availability of suitably trained personnel, and favourable legislative and taxation system.
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    The growth of single-cell protein in aquafeed 2022
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    This review describes the use of feedstock yeasts and bacteria for acquaculture feed, with an emphasis on those sourced from carbon dioxide, ethanol and brewery by-products for their comparatively low costs and sustainability credentials. The scope of application of single-cell protein based feeds and their outcome, are benefits are presented. Aquaculture competes with fish meal use in the diets of swine, poultry and pets, and fish meal production cannot match the growth of all of these industries without jeopardizing forage fish stocks. While fish meal has been partially replaced with ingredients from as soy, this has raised environmental sustainability and fish welfare questions. A number of companies have emerged in the alternative protein sector including producers of proteins from single-cell organisms such as bacteria, yeast and microalgae. Proteins made from single-cell organisms are being produced in growing quantities for aquafeeds. Currently, there are aquafeed producers in Asia, Europe and North America lead this field. A considerable reduction in price and increase in volume will be required before single-cell proteins are widely used by aquafeed producers and aquatic farmers.

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