Despite being one of the most commercially farmed fish in the world, tilapia is mostly grown by smallholder farmers, frequently in less developed nations.
Although salmon and other fish species are popular worldwide, the multi-billion dollar tilapia sector has been eclipsed by these.
Businesses, corporations, academic institutions, and other organizations have poured billions of dollars into the study of salmon while ignoring tilapia.
Thus, two Kenyan businessmen—Joseph Rehmann and Steve Moran—started a fish breeding business, specializing in the Lake Victoria shoreline-specific Tilapia that is so popular throughout Africa.
Fish of the tilapia species are raised by Victory Farms in Kenya’s Lake Victoria.
Even though research cautioned against Tilapia cultivation, the two went forward with their investment. Around 30 million fish have been raised by Rehmann and Moran for sale.
Rehmann agreed, in an interview with How We Made It Africa, that despite the paucity of investment, the tilapia business presents a multibillion-dollar opportunity.
In order to become one of Africa’s largest commercial tilapia farmers, the pair established Victory Farms in 2016.
Moran and Rehmann created a unique fish-rearing method that revolutionized tilapia farming on a large scale in Africa.
According to Rehmann, it was essential to develop a strategy that was appropriate for tilapia and Africa rather than just copying practices from other commercially farmed fish.
“We couldn’t just copy and paste the recirculatory aquaculture system (RAS) fishing style in Holland; the pond system from Thailand or the cage system from Norway. It required a hybridised approach,” he explained.
At first, Rehmann and his co-founder, Moran, were cautioned Lake Victoria was unsuitable for aquaculture as it was too nutrient-rich, shallow and cold.
However, they believed Lake Victoria was the best place for tilapia after conducting their own technical and commercial feasibility assessments.
“There’s almost nobody manufacturing tilapia equipment currently in the world, which is an amazing statement because it’s one of the world’s top three farmed fish.
“It is farmed by millions of smallholders and feeds billions of people.”
Additionally, they developed their own recirculatory aquaculture system (RAS) technology that works well in an open environment like Lake Victoria.
The water is filtered and recycled back to the fish in RAS tanks, which are typically indoor tanks. The fish are raised in a natural lake under a hybrid model developed by Victory Farms.
Protein pellets and carbohydrates free of antibiotics are also fed to the fish.
Due to the efficiency of this distinct method compared to other RAS strategies, the business is well-positioned to compete with major international producers.
Each day, they supply 56 of their own branches, and by the end of the year, they hope to have 65 more.
