Abstract
The study was conducted in three districts of Western Province of Zambia namely; Mongu, Nalolo and Senanga that lie along the Zambezi River in the Barotse Floodplain. The study employed two main data tools aimed at understanding the extent of post-harvest losses in the fishing, processing and trading nodes in the fish value chain study sites. The tools were the Exploratory Fish Loss Assessment Method (EFLAM) study and a Quantitative Loss Assessment Method (QLAM) survey. The study found that physical fish losses occur at three nodes in the value chain and differ significantly (P < 0.05) between the nodes. On average, the processors lose the largest volume of fish (7.42%) followed by the fish traders (2.9%). The fishers experience the least physical losses at 2% although, this is not significantly different (P > 0.05) from the fish lost at trading node. The major cause of physical loss was found to be breakages at processing and trading nodes. There is need to introduce improved processing technologies that can reduce breakages. Furthermore, economic and nutrient losses should also be profiled to fully understand the total losses that occur within the Barotse Floodplain fish value chain. Key words: Fish, physical losses, fishing, processing, trading.
Highlights
The fisheries subsector that includes both aquaculture and capture fisheries is important in the economy of Zambia as it supports around one million people both directly and indirectly (Central Statistics Office, 2014)
The scope of this paper is to describe a study that quantitatively assessed the amounts of the physical fish post – harvest losses incurred by the actors along the fish value chain (FVC), in order to shed light on this important component that should be addressed in fisheries management and policy debates
Senanga fishers recorded the highest amount of fish loss with Mongu recording the lowest physical losses
Summary
The fisheries subsector that includes both aquaculture and capture fisheries is important in the economy of Zambia as it supports around one million people both directly and indirectly (Central Statistics Office, 2014). Global fish consumption per capita has grown from 9.9 kg in the 1960s to a record high of 20 kg in 2014 (FAO, 2016), the scenario in Zambia has remained subdued at 9.1 kg lower than in 1970s (Department of Fisheries, 2017). The fish supply per capita statistics for Zambia are calculated from the catch data from capture fisheries and production data from aquaculture, as well as including the imports. Post-harvest losses (PHL) occur along the fish value chain (FVC), yet are not accounted. The widening gap between supply and demand due to annual human population growth of around 3% in Zambia means that there is every need to reduce the losses that occur during harvest through to trading
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