• Zimbabwe opens new hatchery to produce 2.7M fingerlings annually
  
• Facility aims to boost local tilapia output to 14,000 tons by 2032
  
• Aquaculture meets only 16% of national fish demand, data shows
  

Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Agriculture has inaugurated a new hatchery at the Matopos Research Institute near Bulawayo, according to local daily The Herald.

The government did not disclose the cost of the facility, which was developed under a technical cooperation programme with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Milton Makumbe, director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Resources Department, said the hatchery can produce 2.7 million fingerlings a year and is currently operating at 75% of capacity.

“This hatchery is a major investment in boosting domestic fish production, empowering communities and ensuring that quality fingerlings are available closer to farmers,” said Obert Jiri, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development.

The investment is intended to improve farmers’ access to fingerlings and support growth in the sector. Under its national development plan adopted in May 2025, the government aims to raise local tilapia output to 14,000 tons by 2032.

Aquaculture production stood at only 4,942 tons in 2024, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

Aquaculture accounted for just 16% of Zimbabwe’s fish supply, which averaged 31,000 tons a year between 2020 and 2023. The rest came from inland fisheries, WOAH data shows. The country’s annual fish demand stood at around 60,000 tons over the same period, leaving a gap filled by imports.

Stéphanas Assocle