I followed the opening discussions of the #AFSForum2026 and was glad that fisheries and aquaculture were part of the dialogues.

I believe that the sector holds the key to Africa’s protein security, but has many challenges to address.

I was particularly glad that important issues as seed improvement, diversity and commercialization, technology and AI importance, water resource sustainability, effective extension, and data policy were key areas of discussions.

These are issues I have extensively talked about in the past.

Africa has a huge fish supply-demand gap. And data challenge is a leading driver.

There’s no accurate and up-to-date data on our fish consumption and output. This makes proper planning difficult and even for fish seeds and hence the failure to meet fingerlings demands.

Also, farmers’ use of poor breeds compound this. The seeds give poor performances.

Revelations from my campaign to improve fish breeding in Nigeria was that poor hatchery practices and low diversity of parental stocks drive poor breeds production.

Hatchers rely on narrow broodstock pool for production while farmers are not supported with appropriate knowledge and on improved practices. Research and extension fail hatchers and farmers.

In my conversation with Researchers from Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research (Nofima), Anna Kristina Sonesson and Marie Lillehammer, about localizing advance fish genetics and technology for Nigeria’s small hatchers, to overcome cost that hinder fish breed improvement, it was suggested governments should fund and work with private sector, research and extension in creating robust hatchery infrastructure and democratizing improved fish breeding knowledge.

Recently, I lamented about why we have to focus on catfish alone when other fishes are being demanded, which therefore worsens fish and protein insecurities.

It turned out that the seeds of the few select hardy, adaptive, cultivable and productive species (as catfish) and the knowledge to raise them to maturity are unavailable.

One thing I have observed with these discussions is the inconsideration for the environment and how aquaculture is often left out when agricultural impact on biodiversity is deliberated.

The though is often how crop production practices -land preparations, water and agrochemical uses -impact biodiversity. But with aquaculture, too much water is used for production in the course of changing water. Fish escapes from poor hatchery practices, indiscriminate antibiotics use and fish wastewater also pose serious environmental and ecosystem risks.

Smart tech and AI can help address this. Recirculatory systems and apps supporting with simple and reliable information can aid water efficiency and appropriate aquaculture practices -hatchery security, proper water treatment before discharge -to prevent diseases, gene and toxins transfer. Advance technologies can also improve farmers productivity, research findings and extension transmission.

It is about time we considered all these important aspects to improve aquaculture production and address protein insecurity but while doing so consider the sustainability of the environment and ecosystem.