Africa faces a growing food challenge: its population is rapidly increasing but access to affordable, nutritious food is not keeping pace. Across the continent, people consume less protein than the global average, while traditional sources, such as livestock, are becoming increasingly costly in both economic and environmental terms.
One potential solution lies in aquatic food systems, an area long overlooked in agricultural policy. The so-called ‘blue foods’, which include fish, shellfish and aquatic plants, are gaining attention and are quietly reshaping agriculture across Africa.
What are blue foods?
Blue foods refer to food that is sourced from aquatic environments, including wild or farmed fish, crustaceans, molluscs, and aquatic plants. Globally, they already support the livelihoods of an estimated 800 million people and produce over 200 million tons of food annually.
Across Africa, blue foods range from tilapia farmed in Nigerian ponds to oysters harvested from the mangrove estuaries of Senegal, and chambo from Lake Malawi, a staple that provides 70% of the protein in Malawian diets.
According to research by the WorldFish Center, many aquatic foods are highly nutrient-dense, providing the essential fatty acids and micronutrients that are vital for child development. Moreover, they can represent a lower-emission, protein-rich alternative to land-based agriculture.
Why do they matter for Africa?
Africa averages just 65 grams of protein per person per day against a global average of 91. This gap is of particular concern because the continent’s population is expected to grow from 1.5 billion in 2024 to 2.5 billion in 2050.
To cover the annual deficit of protein that is estimated to be 13.6 million tonnes, Africa needs climate-intelligent solutions. Using livestock and poultry as a primary source of protein is not a viable option, as one kilogram of beef produced releases 60 kilograms of greenhouse gases on average. On the other hand, wild-caught fish can produce roughly one-sixth of that. Farmed tilapia, the fish sold in most Nigerian markets, generates a fraction of that which cattle or even chicken release.
Demand and nutrition
Moreover, seaweed and shellfish require no feed inputs, and filter the very water they grow in. This matters enormously for a continent where protein demand is rising quickly, and land-based alternatives often involve forest clearing and large volumes of freshwater, and also produce high levels amounts of methane.
Should Africa manage to double the production of blue food, this would generate an additional US$17 billion for the continent’s GDP, close roughly 25% of the protein gap, and create millions of jobs, according to the World Economic Forum.
Where does Africa stand on blue food?
Africa’s aquatic sector employs about 12.3 million people and contributes roughly US$24 billion or about 1% to the continent’s GDP. However, the sector faces significant constraints related to infrastructure and poor water management.
Slightly over a quarter of the fish harvest in sub-Saharan Africa is lost after capture, largely due to inadequate cold storage and transport infrastructure.
“Africa has the resources, talent and demand to build a world-class blue foods sector. But fragmented value chains and underinvestment continue to constrain growth,” explained Tolu Oyekan, Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group and Head of BCG West Africa.
Moreover, experts warn that overfishing continues to threaten wild stocks, while poorly managed aquaculture can lead to water pollution and disease outbreaks.
Any response from governments?
Governments and development partners are beginning to respond. Ghana’s Aquaculture for Food and Jobs programme, for example, aims to train thousands of young farmers and expand domestic fish production.
Digital fisheries monitoring systems are being introduced in countries such as Kenya and Mozambique, helping to track fish stocks and improve management decisions.
Several countries, including Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire, are incorporating blue economy strategies into national policy frameworks.
How does the blue food industry look in practice?
Small-scale farmers and entrepreneurs across Africa are adapting aquatic food systems to local conditions, using them to boost income, create jobs, improve resilience and reduce losses.
Economic and sector size
In northern Nigeria, small-scale farmer, Haija Fatima, began to integrate fish into her rice farming, a method known as rice-fish farming.
“I began rice-fish farming because my farm is my business. Now I eat better at home and make money by selling my crops,” she said.
Although the change has improved her harvests by a modest 5%, it has doubled her household income as it has significantly reduced her reliance on chemical inputs.
In Zanzibar, seaweed farming employs approximately 25,000 people, most of them women. Farmers involved in processing initiatives such as Mwani Mamas report earning significantly higher incomes, in some cases reaching between US$250 and US$300 per month, vastly exceeding the US$35 average for traditional farmers, thus enabling greater financial independence.
In Gatunga, Kenya, farmer Japheth Nthiga invested in fish ponds lined with polyethylene sheeting and filled with harvested rainwater. While the rest of his farm, which supported livestock and food crops, struggled through the dry spell, the ponds continued to produce, attracting buyers and prompting other farmers in the area to adopt similar systems.
In Makueni County, one of Kenya’s most water-scarce regions, Faith Mumo expanded her aquaculture operations using solar-powered systems and improved water management. Her farm now produces tilapia and catfish in a landscape most people assumed was too dry to support any kind of aquaculture.
In Uganda, Sophia Busijjo adopted solar tent dryers through the NutriFish project to replace traditional fish-drying methods. The technology has extended shelf life to nearly five months, reduced post-harvest losses and helped to double women’s incomes.
What’s next?
For farmers like Haija Fatima, integrating fish into agriculture is a practical response to economic pressure, not a climate strategy. Yet, scaled across millions of producers, such shifts could reshape how Africa feeds itself in a warming world.
However, experts note that scaling this potential will require clear policies and sustainable investment. Over the past decade, Africa’s blue food sector has attracted just US$1.9 billion in investment — most of it from governments and development finance institutions. To ensure high-quality development, it needs to cover an annual funding gap that is estimated to be US$12 billion, the World Economic Forum noted.
So, realizing that potential will depend less on isolated success stories and more on whether infrastructure, investment, and policy support can keep pace with innovation on the ground.
