The Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute in partnership with the International Artemia Aquaculture Consortium hosted a webinar on the History of Artemia in Africa on 4 May 2022. This was necessitated by the fact that Artemia production has been ongoing on the continent for more than four decades, similar to Asia, but without any distinctive levels of success.

World demand for Artemia cysts has continued to increase and annual consumption is now estimated at 3,500 – 4,000 tonnes with Asia being the largest producer and consumer globally while Africa lags behind in both production and utilisation, despite Artemia having been introduced on the two continents at the same time.

Diverse levels of Artemia activities in different African countries were presented, to take stock of where the continent is, explore opportunities and address the various challenges impeding the production and utilisation of Artemia for improved livelihoods and overall aquaculture development in Africa. Video recordings of the presentations and the report of the webinar are available from the consortium website.

• Video recordings and report of webinar

Programme

• Welcome remarks
  Eric Okuku, KMFRI Mombasa Centre Director
• Aim of the workshop
  Patrick Sorgeloos, Artemia Reference Center, Belgium
• Introduction of Artemia in Keyna
  Prof. Rasowo, Technical University of Mombasa, Kenya & Eddy Naessens, INVE Aquaculture, Belgium
• History of Artemia activities in Kenya
  Morine Mukami, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute
• History of Artemia activities in Tunisia
  Mohamed Salah Romdhane, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences of Tunisia
• History of Artemia activities in Libya
  Gilbert Van Stappen, Artemia Reference Center, Ghent University, Belgium
• History of Artemia activities in Uganda
  Martin Serrwanda, Mountains of the Moon University, Uganda
• History of Artemia activities in Tanzania
  Imani Kapinga, Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute, Tanzania
• History of Artemia activities in Mozambique
  Rafael Rafael, Aquaculture Research Center, Mozambique
• History of Artemia activities in South Africa
  Horst Kaiser, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
• History of Artemia activities Algeria, Eritrea, Namibia, Madagascar and Botswana
  Patrick Sorgeloos, Artemia Reference Center, Ghent University, Belgium
• Q&A, discussion, conclusions and recommendations
  
• Closing remarks
  Simon Wilkinson, Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific