Matobo, (New Ziana)-Zimbabwe requires close to 600 million fingerlings to achieve its goal of building a US$1 billion fisheries and aquaculture economy, a senior government official has said.
This was said by Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Davis Marapira on Wednesday, while officiating at the launch of the National Guidelines for the Management of Hatcheries.
The guideline document, produced with support from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), aims to provide a standardized framework for the operations of aquaculture hatcheries across Zimbabwe.
These guidelines are tailored to the local context and draw from international best practices, such as the Global Seafood Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices Certification Standard for hatcheries.
“We are optimistic that by December 2025, we will begin producing fingerlings, ensuring that high-quality, certified fingerlings are produced and distributed across the country, supporting farmers and strengthening our fisheries and aquaculture value chain.
“Once fully operational, the combined breeding sites will be capable of producing up to 10 million fingerlings per annum before further expansion—a major boost to our national fingerling supply chain.
“Whilst we applaud this major milestone, more still needs to be done to meet the projected demand of 600 million fingerlings in the sector for us to attain a US$1 billion fisheries and aquaculture economy,” he said.
The deputy minister highlighted that a comprehensive analysis of the country’s Nile Tilapia Value Chain, conducted by the FAO together with Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) through the FISH4ACP project initiative in 2021, indicated that Zimbabwe holds immense potential in aquaculture, although significant gaps remain.
“The findings were clear that while Zimbabwe holds immense potential in aquaculture, there were critical gaps, key among them being the availability, supply and accessibility of healthy and quality fingerlings.
“Government and FAO initiated the process of coming up with voluntary hatchery guidelines to direct the production of quality fingerlings at all hatcheries.
“This saw the drafting and finalisation of the Voluntary Hatchery Guidelines by various stakeholders from across the aquaculture sub-sector together with government,” the deputy minister said.
To address the challenge of fingerling availability and accessibility, Marapira said the government launched the Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) at Matopos Fisheries Unit last year.
“Under this programme, government, in collaboration with FAO, agreed to work together to boost fingerling production by establishing five decentralised fish breeding sites across the country.
“Henderson Fisheries Unit in Mashonaland Central was solarised with one borehole and an aqua-room, and stocked with 3,600 Nile Tilapia breeding stock. Makoholi Unit was established in Masvingo province where five fishponds have been constructed, a biosecurity fence installed, and solar borehole equipment procured, with breeding stock expected to be introduced by the end of November.
“The Matopo Fisheries Unit in Matabeleland South was also put in place with five fish ponds that have been constructed, and 525 male and 140 female fish breeders have been stocked,” the deputy minister said.
Marapira added that to further enhance fingerling production at these breeding sites, the government has intervened to drill boreholes across all sites, ensuring an adequate water supply.
The deputy minister also expressed excitement at the growing interest and involvement of private hatcheries in complementing the government’s efforts.
“I am encouraged by the growing interest and involvement of private hatcheries in complementing government efforts in fingerling production, with most hatcheries here indicating their willingness to upscale their fingerling production to help meet this deficit.
“As government, we understand that to truly meet our national fingerling demand and fish production targets, we must decentralise breeding operations and increase the ease of accessibility of quality fingerlings across the country,” said Marapira.
He confirmed that the government’s fish breeding units will ensure fingerlings are readily available to stock fish ponds across all 35,000 Village Business Units (VBUs), 9,600 School Business Units (SBUs), and 4,800 Youth Business Units (YBUs).
“As we decentralise breeding operations, we need to complement existing and establish new fingerling distribution hubs across the country. These hubs will serve as critical access points for farmers, especially those in remote areas, ensuring timely and affordable access to quality fingerlings,” the deputy minister said.
New Ziana
