120 Kitojo Wetengere and Aubrey Harris
much more to be done. For instance, one may question why despite the
existence of training and research centres and institutions, aquaculture is still
faced by so many challenges today! To what effective use are these institutions
placed and what are their impacts?
Government committment and will to support aquaculture is key to
development and sustainability of aquaculture. Commenting on the
achievements of aquaculture in China, FAO (2000) noted that the engine for
economically resilient and sustainable aquaculture is the government’s will
and resolve to establish sound policies to support and develop the sector. The
Thematic Evaluation of Aquaculture found that successful projects were those
supported by strong government commitment (FAO, 1987). It is in view of the
above that recently the government of Tanzania have committed to create an
enabling environment to promote aquaculture development in the following
ways: manpower recruitment and development, policy formulation, provision
of laws, regulations, guidelines, investments promotion and regulation of the
aquaculture sector (URT, 2009; Bueno, 2011).
Targeting of the Beneficiaries of the Aquaculture Trials
Most of the aquaculture projects targeted the poor individual or
households in an effort to improve rural food security through aquaculture.
Past emphasis on the important role of aquaculture to homestead food security
aspect alone favoured those who would want to produce their own food.
Similarly, emphasis of aquaculture as a means for poverty reduction can also
create a negative impression that aquaculture is only good for the poor. The
temptation to focus on the poorest may be compelling, but was unfortunately
often unsuccessful because they did not have the resources (financial, time,
willingness and mental resources) required to establish and sustain
aquaculture. Small-scale rural aquaculture is an activity that relies almost
entirely on on-farm resources, or at most within the village. Very rarely were
the inputs purchased. Thus, if aquaculture is to develop beyond subsistence
level, more emphasis should be given to those who have access to resources
and have the opportunity to facilitate the sustainable development of
aquaculture. In other words, since the technological know-how required for
economically successful aquaculture is demanding (FAO, 2000), promotion of
commercial aquaculture is inevitable. Commercial aquaculture puts more
emphasis on economic incentives which, unlike in small-scale farming, are
strong enough to convince farmers to invest and tend to their ponds/farms