CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
One of the highly traded commodities in the world is fish and its related products (Bellmann et al., 2016). The development of Ghana’s economy with support from the Fisheries sector cannot be overemphasized. This is due to the fact that the sector performs a major role in the sustainability of households (Boateng, Alhassan, Yaw, Nensom & Abarike, 2013). About 3% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 5% of the agriculture GDP of Ghana is estimated as the contribution from the fisheries sector (FAO, 2006).
Fisheries sector in Ghana comprises two major components which include the marine and inland sectors (Failer et al., 2014). The marine sector consists of the sea and the lagoons. It is further categorized into small-scale or artisanal, semi-industrial or inshore, deep sea and the tuna sector. The inland sectors also consist of the lakes, rivers and reservoirs. It is mostly practised on a small-scale/artisanal basis. Over the years, there has been a widespread of aquaculture in the country.
Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), catfish (Clarias gariepinus and Heterobanchus longifilis) and Heterotis niloticus are the common fish species cultured in the country. This is mostly cultured in earthen ponds and concrete tanks (Boateng et al., 2013). According to Abban (2008), there has been a growing interest in the cage culture system too.
There is a high demand for tilapia worldwide. According to the Ministry of Fisheries (2007), tilapia has become one of the most important and highly demanded fish in the rural and urban centres of Ghana. But Failler et al. (2014) argue that fish production in Ghana fluctuates
around 440,000 metric tonnes, which is about 51% less of the country demand for decades now thereby leaving a huge deficit.
However, MoFAD (2013) recorded a strong growth in the aquaculture production from 5,000 metric tonnes in 2008 to 28,000 metric tonnes in 2012, which actually shows a clear indication of a booming aquaculture. But the margin of increase still remains insignificant and has not kept pace with the demand for fish in Ghana. This is largely because the value realized along the tilapia value chain is not known. Economist have always been of the view that, one of the surest way to development is through the realisation of the true value of a product in the market forces (Koenig et al., 2008). Interventions in the form of regulation and policies not only influence international market but also the local one. Tilapia value chain development has the overwhelming advantage of managing the fisheries resources by meet the demand of the market by supplying the required quantity, and so preventing wastage of the fisheries resources. This in turn results in the maximization of profit by the various actors along the chain. As such this value chain approach will look at instrument and processes that are traced by the various actors along the tilapia value chain.
Kaplinsky & Morris (2000) defined value chain as the full range of activities that are required to bring a product or service from conception through the intermediary phases of production, delivery to final consumers, and final disposal after use. It examines the forward and backward linkages among actors and economic agents from raw materials to the final consumer. A value chain analysis is also conducted to identify upgrading, improvement in quality and product design that enables producers to gain enhanced value (Rosales et al., 2017). The value chain is supported by a series of technical, business and financial service providers and important stakeholders to provide opportunities for improvement at different stages in the chain.
Value chain analysis can be grouped into different categories namely; mapping, governance and distributional issues (Rich et al., 2009). It is linked with the concept of governance which is very important for the sector because it depends heavily on the utilization of natural and environmental resources and also the coordination and trust between economic agents and actors in the chain. Value chain moves beyond just bringing the product to market and aims at providing a more mutually beneficial environment for all key stakeholders in the chain. This is through the provision of a framework for analysing the nature and determinants of competitiveness in food systems in which small farmers participate. And also, by providing an understanding for designing and implementing appropriate development programs and policies to support market participation of resource-poor farmers. De Silva (2011) emphasized that a wide range of factors drives consumer demand for fish and fishery products, and these factors should be taken into consideration when creating a new value- added or value-created product. They include price, consumer demographics, convenience, nutritional content, safety, substitutes, tastes, fashion, advertising and expectations of the consumers. Once a particular demand has been identified, stakeholders must then work to create relationships between production, processing, distributions and marketing that is coupled with free, safe and trusted information.
