Nigeria: Improving catfish farming - The investment case for data-led decision-making and best management practices in fish farming

This investment case shows how support and training that FISH4ACP provided for the implementation of best management practices by 500 catfish pond farmers in five provinces in Nigeria resulted in improved financial and environmental performance by the farms. This was largely due to improving feed conversion ratios and thereby reducing feed use, the single most important input cost. The establishment of a database containing information about the farms and their practices also provided real-time monitoring and analytics of farm production to support data-led decision-making. Support for best practices in catfish farming in other areas of Nigeria and in other countries would be likely to generate similarly positive results and enable the scaling-up of catfish farming. This would help catfish farmers and support improved food security.