Devex Dish: Can fish farming in Lake Victoria bring more food security?

When I visited the small community of Wairaka on the north shore of Lake Victoria in Uganda, fishermen there detailed to me how they have been struggling to make their traditional living off the water in recent years. They say a combination of overfishing, illegal fishing, overzealous enforcement of fishing laws, and invasive species threaten their ability to catch enough to pay rent for their homes and boats and other basic expenses. After setting their nets out overnight, fishermen are now accustomed to returning to shore with just a few fish a day, rather than the up to 20 that used to be common. “This is the situation now,” Bumba Musasizi, father of an infant daughter, tells me, alluding to the struggle his community has had in earning a living on the lake for the past several years. He netted just two fish on a recent trip, hardly making the money spent on fuel worth it. But now some fishermen in Wairaka are experimenting with a new form of aquaculture that they hope will bring more stable profits: cage fish farming. The industry is relatively new on the lake, with most fish farming in the area typically taking place in tanks on land. But farming fish right in the lake has significant advantages, Elysee Nzohabonayo, director of aquaculture management and development at the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization, tells me, because the water is constantly being refreshed. A group of fishermen in the community now has three cages, having purchased two with profits from the first that they received from the government. The 20 members collectively care for the fish, which can be expensive. Because cage fish farming is relatively new in Uganda, most supplies are not manufactured domestically. This includes China-imported materials for the cages and feed — mainly soy, fishmeal, and maize — which comes primarily from Brazil and Egypt. There is some domestic manufacturing, but it is poor quality, Nzohabonayo says. In Waraika, Philip Eyosius, the elected head of the cage fishing group, says the community will continue investing profits from their cages back into the small operation. They hope to gradually increase the amount of cages they have and realize more profits to improve food security. “We want to create more jobs,” Eyosius, who has two children in school, explains. Explore the visual story: Cage fish farming could be the future in East Africa Food assistance on the chopping block Things in Washington, D.C., are in full-on chaos as (some) lawmakers work to avoid a U.S. government shutdown before Saturday, when funding for operations runs out. Caught up in the mess are some key provisions of U.S. international food assistance, with Republicans proposing amendments to the agriculture appropriations bill that would completely zero out two flagship programs: Food for Peace and the McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program. Without going too deep into the dysfunctional American legislative process, this is what’s happened so far: The amendments fully eliminating funding for the programs were voted down, but a separate amendment cutting McGovern-Dole funding by 50% was approved. That means it will be included in the final bill if that passes. Although the amendment to entirely cut Food for Peace funding failed, the baseline level in the bill does include a massive slash, from $1.74 billion to just $536 million. More amendments to the final bill are up for a vote today when the House of Representatives reconvenes, and with the situation in the House changing seemingly by the minute, no one knows if the agriculture spending bill will end up passing. If it does, it has no chance in the Democratically-controlled Senate. But Emily Byers, Save the Children’s managing director for development policy, tells me it’s still bad news if the two chambers start so far apart on foreign assistance funding when attempting to reconcile the two bills. “If enacted, they truly would be devastating,” Byers says about the proposed cuts. Meanwhile, it goes without saying that the Farm Bill, which is the regular legislative vehicle for foreign food aid, will not be passed by the deadline, which is also Saturday. There won’t be any immediate ill effects, but any meaningful action on the new bill seems a long way off. ICYMI: $1T US farm bill authorizing foreign food aid unlikely by deadline A mouthful “We see a lot of analysis. … A lot of talk. But the question is: How does that actually result, all of these investments, [on] the ground for the rural poor and for the people who are going hungry?” — Alvaro Lario, president, International Fund of Agricultural Development Lario spoke with my colleague Stephanie Beasley last week during a session at a Devex event on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York to talk about what’s needed to transform a global food system in crisis. He described the $10 billion in official development assistance that goes toward agriculture as “pennies” and called for the private sector to spend more. He also stressed the harm that agricultural subsidies can have because they distort the market and make it difficult to achieve transformation. But IFAD did get some encouraging news on the ODA front last week when three countries announced pledges for the fund’s ongoing replenishment. French President Emmanuel Macron announced a $150 million pledge to IFAD’s 13th replenishment, which will run from 2025 to 2027, while Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, Norway’s international development minister, announced that her country will increase its contribution by 50%, to approximately $90 million. Spain increased its contribution fourfold — to approximately $21 million. There were a slew of other announcements made last week in New York, and these caught my eye: • USAID announced a $10 million food loss and waste accelerator. • The U.S. called for additional donors for its Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils initiative. • The governments of Japan, Italy, and the United Arab Emirates held an event emphasizing the importance of prioritizing agrifood systems transformation between U.N. agencies and the G7 and COP 28 presidencies. • The U.S. Development Finance Corporation intends to invest an additional $1 billion in food security by 2026. Did I miss an important one? Let me know at dish@devex.com. Related: How to unlock the Global Environment Facility's billions for food systems funding (Pro) + Not a Devex Pro member yet? Access the article and all our exclusive reporting and analysis by starting your 15-day free trial of Pro today. Missing the mark The Nairobi Declaration on Climate Change adopted earlier this month at the Africa Climate Summit is missing one large thing if it is truly to help the African continent weather the changing conditions: sustainable food systems. Bridget Mugambe, from the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, writes in this Devex opinion article that regenerative agriculture practices such as agroecology should be a specific focus of Africa’s climate agenda. “Africa stands at a crossroads, facing interconnected and multifaceted crises that demand a strong vision and a systemic approach,” Mugambe states. “African governments and leaders must act urgently, embracing transformative and socially just solutions such as agroecology to build Africa's more resilient, equitable, and sustainable food systems.” She outlines five calls to action to strengthen climate adaptation and resilience through agroecology, including making it part of the agenda at the 28th U.N. Climate Change Conference. Opinion: Agroecology must feature boldly in African climate negotiations + What do you think? Do African leaders need to take more concrete action to make agroecology a reality? Write to me at dish@devex.com. Chew on this Lab-grown meat can be kosher, the world’s largest kosher certification agency has ruled. [The New York Times] A 5% increase in the real price of food in the past 3 months is associated with a 9% higher risk of wasting in preschool-aged children. [IFPRI] Shock from the last several years has further stalled and in some cases reversed progress across several food and agriculture targets in the Sustainable Development Goals. [FAO]