Animal feeds are special food for domesticated animals that keeps their body healthy and improves the quality of their products. Nutrients Animal feeds are specially designed to provide all the vital nutrients to animals so that their body functions well and their health remains in great condition.

Access to affordable and quality feeds is a challenge to Tanzanian fish farmers. About 76 percent of small-scale farmers generally produce their own fish feeds at their farms. Most, if not all, of these home-made feeds are of low quality as farmers lack the knowledge, ingredients, recipes and equipment needed to produce feed of a high and consistent quality. Commercial and larger farmers require better quality feed and obtain their feed from local small- and medium sized feed manufacturers in Tanzania or the region. These suppliers are either professional feed manufacturers (e.g. UgaChick in Uganda, Unga in Kenya, Skretting & Aller Aqua in Zambia) or large horizontally integrated fish farmers who produce home-mixed feeds (e.g. Eden farm in Tanzania). Tanzania currently has no dedicated fish feed producer. The largest and most professional farms use a mix of locally produced feed and high quality but costly imported feeds. Major feed ingredients are rice bran (different types), fishmeal, meat bone meal, blood meal, soybean meal, soybean cake, canola meal, cassava, oils, etc. There are many kinds of fishmeal, including local fishmeals with protein levels ranging from 35 to 65 percent, for example “dagaa” and “uduvi” from Lake Victoria.

The establishment of fish feed plant will not only enhance value chain additions to our crops and fishmeals which are in abundance in our locality but also improve the Country’s balance of trade by saving the foreign currencies that would otherwise have been used on importation of feeds while Improving Tanzania’s competitiveness of aquaculture products value chain and exports.