Museveni rallies world fisheries experts to invest in Uganda

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President Yoweri Museveni has appealed to experts in the aquaculture sector across the world to partner with Ugandans and harness the country's fisheries potential.

Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic organisms like fish and shellfish in a controlled environment, either in freshwater or saltwater. He made the call on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, while opening the World Aquaculture Conference at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala city.

The call was contained in a speech read on his behalf by Uganda's Vice-President Jessica Alupo Epel.

President Yoweri Museveni was represented by the Vice President Jesca Alupo at the conference at Speke Resort Munyonyo. (Courtesy photo)

He explained that Uganda has been making significant steps in the development of the fish sector since the National Resistance Army, now Movement (NRM), came to power in 1986. He added that by 1986, the economy had collapsed, and the few existing industries had closed. And that the few people who were in the fish sector regarded it as a subsistence activity, mainly for food and not for commercial purposes.

Although the Government has revamped the sector, there is a need to consolidate regional and continental efforts to secure the sector, Museveni said.

“For the sector to thrive, we must consolidate the efforts towards regional and continental market integration and also work together as a bloc as opposed to the development of just independent countries,” Museveni said.  He also added that the Government has established regulatory policies and measures on the lake.

Current fish production in Uganda

According to the agriculture ministry, the total value of fish caught from all the water bodies stands at 658,000 metric tonnes of fish annually. The availability of raw material (fish) has sustained operations of the 12 fish processing factories, Museveni added.

Other initiatives from the Government to ensure fish farming prospers are the gazetting of fish breeding grounds, enforcement of fisheries laws and regulations, provision of quality fingerlings and fish feed and providing an enabling environment for the private sector to invest in aquaculture.

In terms of exports, the value of fish and fish products exported increased from $148.7 million in the financial year 2020/21 to $ 152.8 million in the financial year 2023/24.

“The fisheries sector, once developed, can enhance the incomes and employment opportunities in East African region and Africa. Fish, as a product, has also nutritional advantages, and it is one of the most sought-after proteins prescribed by medical personnel,” Museveni added.

At the same event, the fisheries state minister Hellen Adoa explained that the importance of aquaculture cannot be understated, especially now that the natural wild fisheries are facing stagnation or decline.

At a country level, Adoa said Uganda is endowed with great potential, given that 20% of its surface is freshwater. “We currently produce more than 120,000 metric tonnes annually, although the policy target is to produce one million tonnes per annum in the long term,” she said.

For this to happen, Adoa said her ministry has prioritised aquaculture among the top six key interventions in the medium and long term. The most common production systems are extensive and semi-intensive pond-based aquaculture systems and cage culture, mainly on Lake Victoria.

At the Regional and Continental level, she said the conference aligns with policy frameworks of the EAC, IGAD, COMESA and AU, aimed at promoting sustainable blue economy development, gender and youth inclusive, and regional trade in aquaculture.

The World Aquaculture Conference, which is running under the theme: Aquaculture on the Rise, has attracted the biggest global congregation of diverse actors in the aquaculture network, from more than 100 countries. Issues being discussed at the five-day conference include fish health, nutrition, governance and policy, women in aquaculture farming, and innovative solutions to fish farming, among others.

Organised by the World Aquaculture Society and hosted by the agriculture ministry, it is supported by GIZ, WorldBank, WISHH, AUDA-NEPAD and Makerere University, among others.