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Non-PR, IFPRI1; CRP2; CRP3.7; 4 Transforming Agricultural and Rural Economies; Capacity Strengthening; DCA; TiSeed, DSGD; PIM, CGIAR Research Program on Fish; CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), Over the past decade, the aquaculture sector in Ghana has experienced tremendous growth—driven mainly by large-scale cage farms—but it has been unclear how the rural poor have shared in this growth. A research project has been initiated to help diagnose, design, and test interventions for better inclusion of the rural poor, women, and youth in the tilapia value chain. This report describes the baseline data on 603 small-scale tilapia farmers in Ghana. The data collected during two-hour face-to-face interviews during May–July 2019 are disaggregated by socioeconomic indicators, gender, and age group. Baseline data show that 9 percent of farm managers and owners were women, and an additional 9 percent of farms engaged women in some decision-making. Moreover, women contributed 16 percent of family labor and 5 percent of hired labor on farms. Youth represented 14 and 24 percent of owners and managers, respectively, but contributed 68 percent of the total family and hired labor on farms. A large majority of managers and owners had at least high school education, with a third of owners and a quarter of managers attaining at least a college degree. In Brong Ahafo and Ashanti regions especially, most farmers engaged mainly in crop farming and non-farm businesses as their main livelihood, with fish farming as a small contributor to overall household income and livelihood. Farmers in all regions had poor record-keeping and management practices and low compliance with sanitation, fish health, and food safety standards. A wide variety of input usage, management practices, and performance was observed among fish farms. As a result, the profitability of fish farms was also wide-ranging, between –12.00 and 46.00 cedi per m2, with an average of 8.82 cedi per m2. Despite wide variability in production and profits, the majority of farmers experienced positive profits. On average, a farmer received a profit of 2.4 cedi per kilogram of tilapia produced or a 27 percent profit margin. The

Non-PR, IFPRI5; TiSeed; CRP2; CRP3.7, DSGD; PIM, 32 pages, CGIAR Research Program on Fish; CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), This manual provides a comprehensive step-by-step guide to cage aquaculture. It includes tips on site selection, site preparation, cage design and construction, farming practices (cage preparation, stocking, feeding), biosecurity and fish health management, harvesting and marketing and recordkeeping – all of which are critical elements of a successful tilapia cage farming business operation. Aquaculture has existed in Ghana since the 1950s, though the sector didn’t experience major growth until around 2000, when large-scale commercial production began. Today, it plays a key role in the nation’s prosperity, contributing to food security by augmenting domestic fish production and creating jobs. Even so, challenges that have historically plagued the sector and hindered growth remain pervasive. These include low technical know-how and a lack of quality inputs such as seed and feed. Although knowledge in the sector has increased over the years, small-scale farmers (most of whom are indigenous) continue to struggle with basic farming practices. As a result, they’re often faced with poor yields, which can ultimately lead to a farm’s collapse. The Tilapia Seed Project is aimed at accelerating quality tilapia seed production and dissemination in Ghana. Project stakeholders produced this manual to provide accurate direction to small-scale fish farmers in Ghana. After reviewing its contents, we expect that it will prove instrumental in helping farmers improve production, and that it will serve as a valuable catalyst for growth in this important sector.

Non-PR, IFPRI5; TiSeed; CRP2; CRP3.7, DSGD; PIM, 47 pages, CGIAR Research Program on Fish; CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), This manual provides a comprehensive step-by-step guide to running a tilapia hatchery operation. It includes advice on site selection, site preparation, hatchery design and construction, farming practices (broodstock management, spawning, sex reversal, hormonal feed preparation and feeding), fingerling harvesting and marketing, biosecurity and fish health management, good farm management practices and recordkeeping - all of which are critical elements of a successful tilapia hatchery operation.

Non-PR, IFPRI5; TiSeed; CRP2; CRP3.7, DSGD; PIM, 45 pages, CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM); CGIAR Research Program on Fish, This manual provides a comprehensive step-by-step guide to pond aquaculture. It includes tips on site selection, site preparation, pond design and construction, farming practices (pond preparation, stocking, and feeding), biosecurity and fish health management, harvesting and marketing and recordkeeping - all of which are critical elements of a successful tilapia pond aqua-farming business operation. Aquaculture has existed in Ghana since the 1950s, though the sector didn’t experience major growth until around 2000, when large-scale commercial production began. Today, it plays a key role in the nation’s prosperity, contributing to food security by augmenting domestic fish production and creating jobs. Even so, challenges that have historically plagued the sector and hindered growth remain pervasive. These include low technical know-how and a lack of quality inputs such as seed and feed. Although knowledge in the sector has increased over the years, small-scale farmers (most of whom are indigenous) continue to struggle with basic farming practices. As a result, they’re often faced with poor yields, which can ultimately lead to a farm’s collapse. The Tilapia Seed Project is aimed at accelerating quality tilapia seed production and dissemination in Ghana. Project stakeholders produced this manual to provide accurate direction to small-scale fish farmers in Ghana. After reviewing its contents, we expect that it will prove instrumental in helping farmers improve production, and that it will serve as a valuable catalyst for growth in this important sector.

Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) is a globally significant aquaculture species rapidly gaining status as a farmed commodity. In West Africa, wild Nile tilapia genetic resources are abundant yet knowledge of fine-scale population structure and patterns of natural genetic variation are limited. Coinciding with this is a burgeoning growth in tilapia aquaculture in Ghana and other countries within the region underpinned by locally available genetic resources. Using 192 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers this study conducted a genetic survey of Nile tilapia throughout West Africa, sampling 23 wild populations across eight countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Mali, Gambia and Senegal), representing the major catchments of the Volta, Niger, Senegal and Gambia River basins. A pattern of isolation-by-distance and significant spatial genetic structure was identified throughout West Africa (Global FST = 0.144), which largely corresponds to major river basins and, to a lesser extent, sub-basins. Two populations from the Gambia River (Kudang and Walekounda), one from the western Niger River (Lake Sélingué) and one from the upper Red Volta River (Kongoussi) showed markedly lower levels of diversity and high genetic differentiation compared to all other populations, suggesting genetically isolated populations occurring across the region. Genetic structure within the Volta Basin did not always follow the pattern expected for sub-river basins. This study identifies clear genetic structuring and differentiation amongst West African Nile tilapia populations, which concur with broad patterns found in previous studies. In addition, we provide new evidence for fine-scale genetic structuring within the Volta Basin and previously unidentified genetic differences of populations in Gambia. The 192 SNP marker suite used in this study is a useful tool for differentiating tilapia populations and we recommend incorporating this marker suite into future popula