Nutreco and SHV join partnership to promote sustainable aquaculture in Africa

Aquaculture
Sustainability
Press Release
19 October 2022

Nutreco and its parent company SHV are partnering with FoodTechAfrica and African Parks on an initiative to promote sustainable aquaculture in Africa. In addition to financial investments, Nutreco and SHV will contribute their deep knowledge and experience in creating sustainable ways to feed the future, while also driving forward conservation-led economies. The first project under the initiative, the Gishanda Fish Farm in Rwanda, opened this week and will help meet Rwanda’s growing demand for protein.

 

The sustainable aquaculture initiative started as a cooperative effort between FoodTechAfrica, a public-private partnership headed by Larive International focused on improving food security in East Africa, of which Nutreco’s Skretting aquaculture business line is a partner, and African Parks, a leading conservation organisation that manages a diverse portfolio of 22 protected areas. It will focus on helping solve challenges within the aquaculture supply chain in Africa by promoting protein production in lakes outside of the parks. SHV will make a financial investment in the project.  Nutreco, through its Middle East and Africa business, will act as sponsor and feed partner, contributing its world-leading specialist expertise in nutritional feeds for fish and in sustainable production. 

“We are proud to announce the partnership with SHV, FoodTechAfrica and African Parks. It is estimated that more than half of the projected global population growth in coming decades will take place in Africa. Our purpose of Feeding the Future is focused on helping produce more sustainable protein to feed the growing population here and across the globe. As food insecurity is a global issue, we believe in the great potential of addressing it through partnerships such as this one. We’re grateful to SHV for supporting this project and believe that being part of the SHV group greatly enhances our ability to make a difference in pursuit of Nutreco’s purpose.”
Nutreco CEO Fulco van Lede

The partnership’s first project: Gishanda Fish Farm, Rwanda

The Gishanda Fish Farm is the first project underway as part of the initiative to provide sustainable aquaculture in Africa. The fishery officially opened on Tuesday October 18 outside African Parks-managed Akagera National Park in Rwanda and will continue to be developed over the coming years. The project is using innovative solutions to accelerate aquaculture development in Rwanda, provide employment opportunities to surrounding communities and deliver more sustainable protein.

The Gishanda project is focused on the construction of a Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) tilapia nucleus demo farm. Skretting will share knowledge on sustainable agriculture with local farmers. The farm will produce up to 30 tonnes of tilapia annually, of which at least 10% will be supplied locally at affordable prices. It will also produce up to 1.5 million tilapia fingerlings on an annual basis, of which 110,000 will be retained for farm production, one million sold commercially to bolster the Rwandan aquaculture sector and 300,000-400,000 used to sustainably restock the Akagera National Park lakes. In addition, Gishanda will serve as a model of circular agriculture with the farm effluent fertilizing an on-site organic vegetable farm.

Ricardo Kandelman, Executive Board Director at SHV, comments: “Supporting people to ensure a better future is a perfect fit with the SHV purpose – ‘Courage to care for generations to come.’ Throughout our history of more than 125 years we have always cared for people and communities everywhere we operate. We are proud that we can contribute to the realisation of this project. Teaming up with Nutreco makes it even more valuable, as it clearly shows what SHV can do if we join forces within our family of companies.”              

Ladis Ndahiriwe, Park Manager of Akagera National Park says: “It may seem an unusual move for a conservation organisation to be building and running a fish farm. However, our goal at African Parks is to leave a legacy of sustainability, for both communities and wild places. Gishanda actually makes perfect sense – sustainable land use, biodiversity conservation and improving community lives.”

Nutreco partners and supports organisations around the planet to ensure it can play its role in Feeding the Future. Across the African continent, Nutreco is present in both the aquaculture and animal nutrition sectors.