As we look ahead with excitement to the upcoming Aquaculture Africa 2024 Conference (AFRAQ24) in Hammamet, Tunisia, collaboration and partnership will be at the heart of the three-day event. The great strength of AFRAQ is the bringing together of the major actors driving aquaculture development in Africa including industry, international government development agencies, finance institutions, governments, NGOs, and the research community. The event format offers a wide range of platforms for diverse stakeholders.
The AFRAQ24 conference and trade show brings together hundreds of speakers from across Africa and globally to connect and share their experiences, insights and new innovations. The conference programme consists of a keynote opening ceremony followed by presentation sessions, workshops, field visits, learning and networking opportunities over four days. The conference theme, “Blue Farming: New Horizons for Economic Growth”, highlights how partnerships in science, education and technological advancement can help drive innovations in Africa’s blue economy agenda.
A range of engaging collaboration-focused sessions sponsored by organisations that drive aquaculture development in Africa including the African Union agencies and associated bodies, FAO, WorldFish, World Bank, Africa Development Bank, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ-GIZ), World Aquatic Veterinary Medical Association (WAVMA) will be offered. Tunisian aquaculture actors ranging from industrial scale aquaculture stakeholders to small scale operators, as well as leading research institutions, will engage with their African counterparts.
With contributions and presentations from the public and private sector, producers, researchers, academic institutions, developmental and financial institutions, the event offers a unique opportunity to explore latest innovations and experiences – a melting pot of global and African aquaculture communities. The conference will recognise and celebrate the gains in sustainable aquaculture development in Africa thus far, and propose solutions to some of the continent’s developmental challenges. Session themes include sustainable aquaculture in the face of climate change, aquaculture financing, aquatic animal health, aquafeeds, biotechnology, youth and gender.
“As we celebrate five years of existence, the WAS African Chapter (WAS-AC) has always valued collaborations as central to everything that we do. Our diverse membership, strategic partnerships with various entities and deliverables have enabled us to develop functional communities of practise that will continue to play a role in sustainable aquaculture development in Africa. This will once again be clearly demonstrated at AFRAQ24, given many of the featuring organisations, both new and traditional” says Dr. Sherif Sadek (WAS-AC Past President from Egypt).
Other newly featured sessions include by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s special session on Aquatic Animal Health -Research and Development. The African Union will host a new session on developing Africa’s seaweed programme. The Global Salmon Initiative (GSI) and its partners will be hosting an Africa Aquaculture Business Seminar on the sidelines of AFRAQ24. The Seminar is expected to bring together business leaders and CEOs from key African aquaculture companies. The Conference’s programme is under finalisation and should be available online soon.
Nutrifish is AFRAQ24 Gold Sponsor. Silver sponsors include the World Initiative on Soy in Human Health (WISHH), WorldFish, US Grains and GIZ. Sponsorship opportunities are available for organisation that desire to raise the profile of their brands and for African aquaculture.
Join us at AFRAQ24 and help shape the future of African aquaculture as we take on the opportunity to connect, learn and collaborate.
Registrations and submission of abstracts are still open. All conference details will be updated on the event page on https://www.was.org/Meeting/code/AFRAQ24. For all enquiries on AFRAQ24 contact worldaqua@was.org or africanchapter@was.org. For more information on the exhibition and sponsorship, please contact mario@marevent.com.
On 15th October 2024, organisers of AFRAQ24 will host an interactive virtual zoom session to promote AFRAQ24. The session will connect with global aquaculture audiences and present the Conference’s programmes features and other logistics. To register for the virtual session, visit https://rb.gy/3i13oj
