{"id":341140,"date":"2026-07-21T14:10:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T14:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/341140\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T14:10:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T14:10:16","slug":"affordable-fish-feed-and-poverty-in-tanzania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/341140\/","title":{"rendered":"Affordable Fish Feed and Poverty in Tanzania"},"content":{"rendered":"

LUTON, United Kingdom \u2014 Diana Orembe grew up near Lake Victoria, where she saw small fish farmers struggle with expensive and scarce feed. While studying microbiology at<\/a> the University of Dar es Salaam, she researched Tanzania\u2019s aquaculture sector and found that the high cost of imported feed was still limiting many farmers. In 2020, she co-founded NovFeed to turn market food waste into affordable fish feed and a microbial liquid fertilizer. The company has since moved from early<\/a> production of about 30 metric tons per month to a new factory that can produce more than 20 metric tons of fish feed per day. The next challenge is not only making more feed but making sure it reaches the small-scale tilapia farmers who need it most.<\/p>\n

Why Affordable Fish Feed Matters in Tanzania<\/p>\n

Aquaculture is significant because fish is linked to jobs, nutrition and household income in Tanzania. The Food and Agriculture Organization<\/a> (FAO) reports that fishing and aquaculture provide 250,745 direct jobs and about 6 million indirect jobs in the country. FAO also reports that the sector contributes 30% of animal protein intake, while demand for fish is rising as the population grows and capture fisheries face pressure.<\/p>\n

For many farmers, the biggest practical barrier is feed. A Tanzania aquaculture inception<\/a> study found that professional quality feeds can make up 60% to 75% of production costs. The same report found that about 76% of small-scale fish farmers generally produce their own feed on their farms, often because commercial feed is costly or hard to access. However, homemade feed is often inconsistent because farmers may lack the ingredients, formulas and equipment needed to produce balanced diets. This is why affordable fish feed can be a poverty-related issue as much as an agricultural one: when feed is too costly or unreliable, farmers in Tanzania have fewer chances to grow fish profitably.<\/p>\n

Poverty and Rural Livelihoods in Tanzania<\/p>\n

Tanzania has made development gains, but poverty remains a major challenge. The World Bank estimates<\/a> poverty at 48% in 2025 using the international poverty line of $3 per person per day in 2021 purchasing power parity. The country\u2019s official 2017-18 Household<\/a> Budget Survey found that 26.4% of Tanzanians on the mainland lived below the national basic needs poverty line, with poverty higher in rural areas at 31.3% than in urban areas at 15.8%. The same survey found that 8% of the population was food poor, meaning they could not afford enough food<\/a> to meet minimum nutrition requirements.<\/p>\n

For families living in poverty, daily life can include unstable income, limited savings, difficulty paying for transport or health care and vulnerability to droughts, price changes or crop losses. Rural households are especially exposed because agriculture remains the largest source of employment, with more than half of Tanzanians working in the sector. Fish farming can help diversify income and improve local nutrition, but only when farmers can access quality fingerlings, training, markets and affordable fish feed.<\/p>\n

NovFeed\u2019s Model and Early Results<\/p>\n

NovFeed\u2019s model fits into this gap by using biotechnology to convert organic waste into feed and fertilizer. The company says its process uses microbial fermentation to break down food waste into nutrient-rich protein for aquaculture feed and organic fertilizer for farming. Africa\u2019s Business Heroes describes<\/a> NovFeed as a biotech startup that transforms agricultural waste into sustainable, affordable fish feed and biofertilizers. Its profile says NovFeed products can reduce feed costs by up to 40% and increase yields by 45%, while serving more than 1,300 farmers through local service providers.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s sales approach also shows why technology alone is not enough. Orembe\u2019s team has avoided technical jargon and focused on simple messages farmers can test: lower cost, reliable performance and hands-on support. NovFeed sells through agricultural shops and uses demonstration farms to show farmers and agro-dealers how the feed performs. Repeat orders in 2024<\/a> helped validate the product, and the company\u2019s $300,000 Africa\u2019s Business Heroes prize supported its move into higher production.<\/p>\n

What Sector Data Shows About Farmer Needs<\/p>\n

A 2017-18 study of<\/a> tilapia farming in Tanzania shows why consistent feed quality matters. Researchers surveyed 202 tilapia farmers, local feed producers and hatchery owners across 95 villages, 24 districts, nine mainland regions and Zanzibar. They found that most farms were individually owned, 67.3% of farms used earthen ponds and 87.6% raised fish semi-intensively. Tilapia monoculture dominated production, and stocking densities most often clustered around two to three fish per square meter.<\/p>\n

The study also found that more than 80% of respondents relied on locally available feed ingredients as a major supplement for cultured fish, but the ingredients varied by region and season. Researchers collected 60 samples of 30 local feed ingredients from Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, Mbeya and Mwanza for nutrient analysis. This variation makes it harder for farmers to predict growth and farm performance. Companies such as NovFeed can strengthen trust if they provide transparent nutrient information, consistent quality assurance and farmer training that explains how feed should be used.<\/p>\n

Programs That Can Help NovFeed Scale Its Impact<\/p>\n

Government action is already expanding the aquaculture ecosystem. FAO reports that<\/a> Tanzania has made aquaculture intensification and modernization a national priority. The government has waived value added tax and import duties on items such as feed, nets and hatchery equipment. According to FAO, hatcheries increased from 24 in 2020 to 51 in 2024, while annual fingerling production increased from more than 24.2 million to 140.01 million fingerlings. The use of formulated feed also rose from 1,182 metric tons to 17,928 metric tons over the same period, though imported feed still accounted for 59%.<\/p>\n

Public financing and training programs show what scale can look like. FAO reports that 507 cages were provided to 1,897 beneficiaries, including 568 women, through community-based organizations, cooperative unions, companies and individual farmers. Thirty-three community-based organizations and cooperatives completed their first culture cycle, harvesting just over 228 metric tons of fish and earning gross revenue of about 1.8 billion Tanzanian shillings (TZS). FAO also reports that the Fisheries Education and Training Agency trained 283 youth, the Building a Better Tomorrow program trained about 500 youth and TRUE-FISH training equipped 161 fish farmers, fisheries officers and entrepreneurs with cage farming skills.<\/p>\n

Private and nonprofit partnerships can also help make affordable fish feed easier to access. Norges Vel\u2019s Commercializing<\/a> Small-Scale Fish Farming in Tanzania project, running from 2026 to 2028 in Ifakara, aims to help small-scale producers adopt sustainable, climate-resilient and commercially oriented tilapia farming. The project plans to support training in fish health, pond management, business planning and marketing. It also aims to improve access to quality feed, fingerlings and other inputs through a coordinated system and to create an aquaculture hub for training, extension support, input distribution and sales coordination.<\/p>\n

A regional example is FoodTechAfrica, a public-private<\/a> partnership that ran from 2011 to 2021 in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda. The initiative brought together 17 project partners to develop aquaculture value chains, establish high-quality fish feed production in Kenya and support spin-off projects in Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda. For NovFeed, these examples point to a practical scaling strategy: combine local feed production with training, farmer aggregation, quality data and reliable distribution.<\/p>\n

Scaling NovFeed From Factory Output to Farmer Income<\/p>\n

NovFeed\u2019s new production capacity creates both an opportunity and a risk. A factory producing more<\/a> than 20 metric tons per day can improve access to affordable fish feed only if distribution keeps pace. Orembe has already identified sales and distribution as a major challenge. The company is looking at opening its own network of stores, but it will also need strong partnerships with agro-dealers, cooperatives, extension officers and farmer groups.<\/p>\n

The clearest path forward is practical rather than complicated. Demonstration farms can show farmers how NovFeed performs. Agro-dealer partnerships can make feed available closer to rural communities. Cooperatives can buy in bulk and reduce the distribution risk that individual farmers and small retailers face. Training can help farmers match feed use with proper pond management, stocking density, water quality and record keeping. Transparent nutrient data can give buyers confidence that feed quality will remain consistent from one batch to the next.<\/p>\n

Why This Matters for Poverty Reduction in Tanzania<\/p>\n

Affordable fish feed is not a stand-alone solution to poverty, but it can support several poverty-reduction goals at once. It can lower one of the largest costs in fish farming, help farmers raise fish more predictably, strengthen local food supply and create more demand for jobs in feed production, distribution, farming and sales. Because NovFeed uses food<\/a> waste, its model also links waste management with rural livelihoods and food security.<\/p>\n

The strongest impact will come when feed innovation is connected to the wider system farmers depend on. Farmers need affordable<\/a> fish feed, but they also need quality fingerlings, technical support, financing, reliable buyers and policies that encourage local input production. If NovFeed can partner<\/a> with government programs, nonprofit value-chain projects and private retailers, it can help turn factory capacity into measurable benefits for small-scale farmers and lakeshore communities.<\/p>\n

A Pathway Forward<\/p>\n

NovFeed shows how a local innovation can<\/a> respond to three connected problems: food waste, costly fish feed and rural income insecurity. Tanzania\u2019s aquaculture sector is growing, but small farmers still face feed shortages, skills gaps and market barriers. By building distribution networks, sharing transparent feed data and working through cooperatives, agro-dealers and extension programs, NovFeed can help make affordable fish feed a more reliable input for small-scale tilapia farmers.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s success will ultimately be measured beyond production numbers. If its feed helps farmers<\/a> lower costs, improve yields and sell more fish, NovFeed could contribute to stronger rural livelihoods, reducing poverty and a more resilient aquaculture sector in Tanzania<\/p>\n

\u2013 Josephine Dokpesi<\/p>\n

Josephine is based in Luton, UK and focuses on Business and New Markets for The Borgen Project.<\/p>\n

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