Could marine resources provide a short-term solution to declining fishsupply in SADC inland countries? The case of horse mackerel

摘要

Food insecurity, usually manifested as protein deficiency, is a growing problem in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region. In the land-locked countries where fish is an important component of the dietary protein, one of the factors contributing to this phenomenon is the declining per caput supply against growing populations. In such instances, national production from capture fisheries or aquaculture has not kept pace with population growth. Meanwhile, some of the maritime states in the region such as Namibia, South Africa, Angola and Mozambique have abundant under-utilised fish resources which, if brought into production, could help in reducing this imbalance, provided that the economic, technological and marketing constraints pertaining to exploitation of the low-value species in question can be overcome. Of the species in question (horse mackerel in Namibia and South Africa, round herring in South Africa, anchovy in Mozambique and sardines in Angola), horse mackerel from Namibia holds the best promise of being easily brought into play in the short term. A precedent exists whereby entrepreneurs from Zimbabwe and also from Malawi and Zambia have been importing horse mackerel from Namibia since the early 1990s. But in order to boost production substantially for export human consumption, the support and facilitation of the governments concerned would be vital. This should be in the areas of appropriate research and studies necessary to overcome the constraints, development of infrastructure and putting in place enabling policies.