Ian Goulding: The African smoked fish business; ready for industrialisation?

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• published: 18 May 2015
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In his presentation, Ian Goulding talks about "The African smoked fish business; ready for industrialisation?" Mr. Goulding was in Iceland on behalf of United Nations University Fisheries Training Programme, located in Iceland (www.unuftp.is). The presentation was held in Matís HQ in Reykjavík, Iceland." Mr. Goulding was in Iceland on behalf of United Nations University Fisheries Training Programme, located in Iceland (www.unuftp.is). The presentation was held in Matís HQ in Reykjavík, Iceland. This presentation considers the policy challenges presented by the smoked fish industry in Africa. Fish smoking (or more correctly, drying and smoking using wood-based fuels) is the standard preservation method used in many countries, and especially so in West Africa. It is mostly carried out by small scale operators using traditional technologies. The economic, employment and food security importance of fisheries was highlighted previously. Although overall data is scarce, the scale of the sector and its phenomenal impacts can be illustrated by specific cases (Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone) where the sector provides income and employment for hundreds of thousands (mostly women). Furthermore, smoked fish (most often pelagic) is widely traded away from coastal regions, where it supplies protein, fat soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids to the diet. However the sector is facing enormous challenges. Overall the sustainability of the resource base is undermined by the open access nature of most of the supplying fisheries. Processors are turning to imports, which are booming as many African countries experience unprecedented rates of economic growth. Traditional technologies are fuel inefficient and contribute to high rates of deforestation, including coastal mangroves, leading to further loss of habitat. The traditional product is heavily smoked, with high levels of carcinogenic products of partial combustion (PAHs) which we must assume are linked to a high incidence of stomach cancers within the region. Inefficient kilns also contribute to unhealthy working conditions for fish processors, and their families. The policy challenge is largely unrecognised and most authorities and development agencies have failed to consider the significant risks in the laissez faire approach. Apart from direct health impacts, these include restrictions on trade. African smoked fish is already substantially excluded from international markets due to non-compliance with food safety standards, but the launch of the African Food Safety Authority under the AU in 2015, will result in strengthened SPS border controls by Member States, risking restrictions on the regional informal trade in smoked fish. There are several technological options for improved small scale and industrial scale smoking (modified Chorkor, FAO FTT etc.) which provide improved process controls (separate drying and smoking functions) permitting lowering of PAH levels. Fisheries policy makers need to wake up and start employing a range of tools to encourage adoption of these technologies: investment incentives for investment in modern equipment; regulation (e.g. progressive national PAH limits); consumer awareness raising and measures for amelioration of the impacts of structural changes on jobs (support for producer organisations and investment finance for alternative income generation). It will however need cross cutting coordination of public health, conservation and fisheries policies.