Spotlight on Africa at conference
THE World Aquaculture Society takes its annual conference to Africa for the first time in 2017, turning the spotlight on the potential of aquaculture production to support economic development and investment opportunities in the world’s second fastest growing regional economy.
Sub-Saharan Africa’s vast inland waters and coastlines – home to a small but rapidly growing aquaculture sector – present a largely untapped opportunity to contribute to the nutrition and socio-economic development needs of the region.
Themed ‘Sustainable Aquaculture – New Frontiers for Economic Growth – Spotlight on
Africa’, World Aquaculture 2017 will bring together some 3,000 industry, academic and government delegates from the 100 member countries of the World Aquaculture Society (WAS), in Cape Town, South Africa, from June 26-30, 2017.
Representing the coming of age of African aquaculture and a significant milestone for the global aquaculture community, the WAS plans to launch its Africa Chapter at the conference, whereby the continent will join the United States, Korea, Asia-Pacific and Latin-American-Caribbean as fully affiliated chapters of the WAS.
The conference will balance global and African perspectives, the theme captured in the keynote addresses delivered by leading sustainable aquaculture advocate Dr Rohana Subasinghe and by Dr Sloans Chimatiro, programme manager of Fish Trade at the World Fish Centre, Zambia.
Financing and investment in the aquaculture industry will be highlighted by Gorjan Nikolik, senior industry analyst for Food and Agri-business Research and Advisory at Rabobank International, the Netherlands based cooperative bank.