Tanzania’s fish farming sector offers great potential for economic growth and providing food security. The country’s climate is ideal for farming of local species such as tilapia and African catfish. The demand for fish is rising steadily due to population growth and rising incomes.
Yet, despite the fish market demand gap (estimated at a staggering 480,000 tons), the local fish farming sector has not managed to capture a significant part of the market. Aquaculture is responsible for around 1% (or 3,942 tons) of total fish production in Tanzania as consumer still rely on inland fisheries from Lake Victoria, marine fisheries and import for local fish consumption. Tanzanian fish farmers are faced with strong competition from imported frozen fish from Asian countries and wild-caught fish. With tilapia generally being sold as an unpackaged product sold whole in frozen form, consumers are limitedly able to identify the difference between Tanzanian produced and imported fish. Fish farmers are struggling to obtain a good price for their products.
However, extensive market research by Larive International shows that Tanzanian consumers are willing to pay between 1,277 TSh /kg to over 6,000 TSh /kg more for Tanzanian tilapia over imported tilapia, if they can be sure of the origin. In other words, if an imported fish would be sold for 6,000 TSh/kg, it is estimated that Tanzanian customers are willing to pay 7,277 TSh/kg to 12,000 TSh/kg for Tanzanian fish. Through the demonstration fish farm in Kigamboni, Big Fish, Larive and the Impact Cluster Aquaculture Tanzania have proven that through marketing and branding at least a 50% sales premium over market price can be obtained.
In general however, farmers and traders lack the strategies and tools to effectively position their local fish on the market. There is a lot of room for improvement regarding marketing & branding, both online and offline. This improvement should be based on the premise that locally produced fish for the local market should be recognizable to the consumer as such.
To support local private sector development , Larive International in partnership with ABC Bros and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs developed a fish branding strategy for fish farmers and traders. This strategy leveraged our own insights and regional best practices, sharing knowledge sector-wide. This strategy has been summarized in the below tool.
Download the English Brochure here.
Find the full Fish Branding Tanzania Marketing strategy here.
For more information on aquaculture in East Africa, please contact Larive Expert Tim de Kruiff.
