Botswana’s leading commercial fish producer forges ahead

As a landlocked and semi-arid country, Botswana has every reason to seek creative ways of diversifying and boosting food production to ensure food security.

Golden Wrap, a farming enterprise based in Kasane in Chobe District in the north of the country, is a good example of the diversification the government hopes to see replicated across the sector. The company produces fish, as well as fruit, maize and vegetables.

The fish farm was launched by Mari van Graan and her husband Pieter, and began production in 2016. The following year, the business attracted investment from Danish African Development, Chobe Holdings Limited and Jonathan Gibson, and together the shareholders established the trading company Golden Wrap (Pty) Ltd.

This has since become a model aquaculture business in a country with only a handful of these projects. According to Van Graan, their company, which produces and sells fish through its Chobe Bream Aquaculture Fish Farm, focuses on delivering the highest-quality product. Two species are currently under production on the farm: the threespotted tilapia (Oreochromis andersonii) and the Nile tilapia (O. niloticus).

The company also taps into the opportunities presented by the many tourists who visit the region, which is home to worldfamous wildlife sanctuaries such as Chobe National Park.

“When we arrived here in 2014, there was absolutely nothing,” recalls Van Graan. “We were the first commercial fish project to be established here. People didn’t know what aquaculture was about, so there was a lot of bureaucracy and many challenges. But through patience, hard work and good management, we managed to establish a profitable fish-farming project.”

In addition to the fish, they produce avocados, lemons, limes, papayas, bananas, watermelons and naartjies.

“We plant crops that can be bought by locals, lodges, restaurants and tourists. And we’re looking to process the avocados into products such as avocado oil for the local and export markets.”

Fish Exports

Golden Wrap is also pursuing opportunities to export its fish, as there is considerable demand from as far afield as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria.

“We’ve already started exporting to Namibia, where our clients require around 200t of fish a month, which far exceeds what we can supply. We’ve also had inquiries from Dubai,” she adds.

Strong local demand also offers plenty of opportunity for Golden Wrap and other Botswanan fish producers.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, Botswanan consumers buy more than 5 000t of fish a year, yet local fish farmers currently produce just 560t/year. Imports make up the shortfall, a situation the government hopes to reverse with further research and investment in local production.

Expansion is certainly on the cards for Golden Wrap, which has ambitions to increase production to as much as 1 000t of fish a year. Production today is 84t/year, and should increase to 500t/year once the current expansion phase is completed.

“We get water from the Chobe River, and we have the right climate, the ideal location and enough land.

“Now we want to expand our production and processing facilities,” says Van Graan.

Another goal is to add a restaurant and recreational fish ponds where tourists can catch fish using rented rods. This will serve as an outlet for all farm produce.

Production

Golden Wrap uses a recirculating aquaculture system, which enables the farm to maximise stocking density.

At Golden Wrap, the fingerlings are bred and grown in-house. Each female fish gathers the eggs in her mouth, and these are then removed to induce further spawning. The eggs are later hatched in incubators and grown in glass tanks to the small-fry stage.

These are then transferred to the fry tanks, where they grow for six to eight weeks before being moved to larger tanks. Thereafter, they are placed in even larger fingerling tanks, where they spend another four to six weeks until they are or around 15g in weight.

earth ponds, where they are kept until they reach harvesting size, between 280g and 500g. The total growth period of the fish

During processing, the visceral organs, gills and scales are removed, the fish are weighed again, and the final product is packaged and frozen. Golden Wrap

Chobe Bream brand name.

Favourable Climate

Turning to crop production, Graan says that their advantage of favourable

“We now have the recirculating system as well as 20 earth ponds with fish in production. We also had an environmental impact assessment approved so that we can have up to 66 ponds of 0,5ha each,” she says.

Other advantages of the recirculating system is that it allows for water temperature control, better water quality, and more efficient waste removal. The nutrient-rich waste water from the earth ponds is used to irrigate maize and other crops on 20ha serviced by a centre-pivot irrigation system.

“[The only exception is] in October, when it’s very dry and hot for some crops, which end up incurring damage from sunburn. But the extreme temperatures last for only a short period. Once the rain starts, the temperature drops to approximately 25°C for the rest of the summer.”

A big plus about being so far north in Botswana is that the area, unlike the southerly parts, does not usually get frost, enabling crops to be grown during winter.

“We plant some crops at the beginning of winter so we can harvest and sell them at the end of the season,” says Van Graan. “It allows us to get a better price for our produce.”

She adds that with the conditions being this favourable, Golden Wrap is likely to expand its operation to expand its horticulture business.

Growth And Employment

Van Graan is also encouraged by the steps taken by the Botswanan government to boost local food production. This includes legislation to encourage local government institutions and companies to buy locally produced food.

“The number of casual workers depends on the type of crop. We recently grew sweet potatoes, for example, which is labour-intensive and needs many casual workers.”

One of the biggest input costs for the farm, however, is fish feed.

This has to imported from Zambia, as none is manufactured in Botswana, explains Van Graan. Email Mari van Graan at 777rici@gmail.com, or phone her on +267 74 450 404. Visit chobebream.com. FW

“These new regulations make it much better for farmers. The big challenge is that we’re up north, and to get our produce to Gaborone [more than 900km away] is costly because of transport.”

Golden Wrap also contributes to job creation in the Kasane area by employing 49 permanent workers and using 20 to 30 casual workers during the peak harvesting period.