Institutional and organisational arrangements for consumer-oriented community-based aquaculture in South Africa

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to investigate the organisational and institutional arrangements for sustainableconsumer-oriented community-based aquaculture in Hamburg, in the Eastern Cape, and Camdeboo and SaldanhaBay, both in the Western Cape. Without these factors the development of aquaculture will be impossible orunsustainable. The investigation will help in revealing whether markets exist or can be created, the required skillsand investment, and the appropriate institutional arrangements.Two major research strategies were used, namely qualitative methods and case studies. The results revealed that, inall three case studies, the products were not exported and had different target markets and marketing objectives.There was a potential market for some of the products overseas. Leading pioneering firms, such as those that havedeveloped the technologies for aquaculture, control the value chain by setting, monitoring and enforcing theparameters under which other value chain members operate.The results further showed that, in all three case studies, the beneficiaries had some of form of schooling; some hadmatric, while others had lower levels of education. In some scenarios, Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET)training was offered, which combines aquaculture and life skills. Furthermore, unlike with kob, farming of speciessuch as mussel, oyster and catfish did not require such onerously high technical skills and monitoring of parameters.There is no real need for high levels of education in the farming of these three species and, in most cases, people withless than matric are trained in the various aspects of fish farming on the job.Aquaculture appears to be a very capital-intensive industry. Apart from the capital investments, operational expenseshave to be incurred, even during the development phase. The absence of clear policy frameworks and legislationresults in contradictory messages. Choosing the type of business ownership may depend on many factors such asfinancing, admin costs, tax implications, insolvency, business size and continuity.The implication of the results of this study for community-based aquaculture is that investment from the public sectorand private sector is required, both in terms of capital infrastructure and operational costs. Communities should start with simpler forms of aquaculture, such as oyster and mussel farming. Kob farming, on the other hand, requires hightechnical skill. In all cases, the approaches initially require managerial, business and technical support andhandholding for community empowerment groups. When the development is in its infancy, community-basedaquaculture projects need to link and create distribution agencies that deal with marketing and distribution.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University