Artificial Intelligence Applications in Aquaculture: A Review of Global Progress and Zambia's Readiness for Adoption

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the aquaculture industry, with intelligent technologies enhancing feed management, water quality monitoring, disease detection, biomass estimation, and overall productivity in aquaculture systems worldwide. This review examines the advancements in AI applications in global aquaculture while evaluating Zambia's current readiness for AI adoption, including opportunities, barriers, and policy gaps. A narrative literature review approach was employed to synthesize information from diverse academic sources. The findings reveal that Zambia possesses significant potential for AI utilization due to its extensive freshwater resources, growing aquaculture sector, and an annual fish deficit of approximately 74,000 tonnes. Commercial cage farms on Lake Kariba, with capacities ranging from 96 to 135,534 m³, represent suitable pilot sites for AI deployment. Feed constitutes over 50% of production costs on these commercial cage operations, presenting a compelling opportunity for AI-based feed optimization. However, 95% of producers are smallholder farmers facing challenges including inadequate digital infrastructure, lack of unified production data, insufficient technical skills, weak institutional coordination, and financial constraints. This review contributes a comprehensive assessment of Zambia's AI readiness across multiple dimensions and proposes a phased, context-specific implementation framework. A gradual approach emphasizing infrastructure development, capacity enhancement, policy reforms, and research collaboration is recommended to accelerate AI adoption and foster sustainable aquaculture development in Zambia.