Overview of aquaculture in Nigeria: prospects and challenges

Aquaculture activities create significant contributions to poverty eradication and food security in the areas of income, employment, and most importantly, a rich source of animal protein for people, with the capacity to increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. In Nigeria, aquaculture production is fast growing like in the rest of the world, between 1961–2011 the sector expanded substantially by 10.3% compared to crop production at 6% respectively. However, the national demand in 2014 was 2,175,000 tonnes, with supply of 730,000 tonnes and a deficit of 1,404,000 tonnes which did not meet the local demand of its citizens. The government spends about $700m annually to import fish to augment for domestic shortfall, although, the sector contributed 4.3% of the agricultural GDP and provided almost 50% of the animal protein diet to the public. The need for a robust local aquaculture sector is vital in Nigeria since fish is a significant component in people’s diet, 70% of the population live in rural areas and about 65% of them are involved in the agriculture industry. The government of Nigeria has over the years encouraged ordinary citizens to go into fish farming by providing funding and technical advice to enhance other support from private investors.