How sardines from Tanzania can enter international market

Dar/Mwanza. Inadequate capital, equipment and skills and the need to comply with stringent international standards are preventing sardines from Tanzania from penetrating the international market, according to a marine biologist.

Speaking exclusively to The Citizen, Dr Hadija Juma said, “Fish by its very nature is highly perishable. In efforts to safeguard public health and ensure the quality of imported products, foreign countries usually impose very strict regulations and border inspection procedures.

“The nature of this business also requires one to have adequate capital for the purchase of packaging and labelling materials, investment in drying facilities and storage,” Dr Juma said.

She added that sardines were the most plentiful fish species in Tanzania.

“Besides, the fish is highly nutritious compared to other types. However, due to poor handling and processing, its potential has not been fully realised.”

Dr Juma was of the view that the government should support the sub-sector by putting in place the right infrastructure for sustainable fishing, proper handling and marketing.

A study titled Dagaa Fishery: The Unknown Wealth of Lake Victoria by Mr Joseph Luomba and Dr Paul Onyango from the Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute (Tafiri) and University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), respectively, says in terms of trade, sardines are the most divisible food commodity.

“As it can be sold in small units that are affordable to most people as well as large quantities for the animal feed industry, the emergent value addition techniques such as smoking, frying and spicing are presently evident in many places,” the study says.

Products processed and packaged are stored in weights of 500g, 1kg and 2kg. Prices for these products range from Sh6,000 to Sh24,000, depending on the volume.

“The products, properly handled and packaged in these forms, have higher nutritional values and higher incomes for traders. These products are sold to distant markets like Dar es Salaam. These value additions will generate more income for the traders.”

The study further says that for the product to be more economically viable, there is a need for improvements in terms of quality and management along the value chain, semi industrialisation at post-harvest activities and market upgrades (packaging and labelling).

It adds that proper documentation of records as well as policy issues on micro-financing and quality standards are needed for Tanzanian sardines to penetrate the international market penetration.

Over the last three decades, demand for sardines has increased considerably, and facilitation of trade will would stimulate improvement in quality of the commodity by fishers, processors and traders, which, in turn, will improve market access.

For her part, Ms Lilian Ibengwe, a small-scale fisheries Expert from Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, said Lake Victoria sardines constitutes over 38 percent of the total fish landings from the lake.

She added that sardines lost after being fished from Lake Victoria were estimated at $32 million per annum, (approximately 59 percent of the total catch), hence reduction in losses is vital for food security and poverty alleviation.

The post-harvest losses occur mostly through spoilage during the rainy season.

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“Therefore, a better understanding of the basic economics of reducing post-harvest losses would help in managing effective trade-offs and better synergy in poverty eradication, food security and improved health,” Ms Ibengwe says in her report.

According to WorldFish, an international non-profit research institution, 30 percent of sardines are being utilised as human food, with the rest going into industrial feed mills as raw material for production of feeds for poultry, fish, and livestock.