On January 24, 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) met with key actors in fish value chain to deal with challenges that are rampant in fish farming and fisheries industry in a bid boost fish production in Rwanda.

The one-day roundtable meeting was attended by representatives of fishermen, fish farmers, and officials from MINAGRI, Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), vice mayors in charge of economic affairs and police marine.

Speaking at the opening of this meeting, Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Dr Gerardine Mukeshimana, urged fishermen and other stakeholders to combat the use of illegal fishing nets and other malpractices that hamper efforts to increase fish production in the country.

“It’s shameful that Rwanda still depends on fish imports yet our country has huge water bodies that can produce enough fish for local market,” Minister Mukeshimana told particiapnts, urging them to embrace the government’s commitment to streamline fish industry. 

During the fiscal year 2018/2019, the quantity of fish production recorded in Rwanda was 31,465MT while the target for the fiscal year 2019/2020 is 65,000MT.

In fish farming, there are 211 cages in Kivu Lake, 131 cages in Muhazi Lake. The country counts 1087 fish ponds.

Rwanda targets to produce 112,000 tonnes of fish every year by 2024, according to the fourth Strategic Plan for Agriculture Transformation (PSTA4), which runs from 2018 to 2024.