Aquaculture Market in Ghana
The growing global and national demand for fish and the dwindling supply of the ghanaian economy is another reason for the development of aquaculture. In Ghana, more and more people are shunning red meat as a source of protein and turning to fish because of the health effects.

These are the main drivers of the market and the industry. Also due to the role of fisheries in its contribution to GDP, the government has promoted aquaculture as a means of increasing the annual decline in ocean fishing, providing food and employment to the population.

Ghana has a high domestic demand for fish and one of the highest per capita consumption rates in the world (20-25 kg/year). Rapid population growth and urbanization mean that Ghana’s aquaculture market is also expanding, un-habitat predicts. Currently, 87% of households in Ghana are recorded as consumers of tilapia, especially smokers. Ghana also spends heavily on hotels, restaurants and other food services.

Extruder for Fish Feed Production
Fish feed extruder is used to produce extruded pet food, (floating) extruded aquatic feed and extruded animal feed.

Extrusion cooking process will lead to a large number of starch gelatinization, so the feed has good water stability. It can produce both”extruded”floating feed and sinking feed. The process also improves the digestibility of the product.

Feeds that contain ingredients such as soybean meal and cereal grains are more digestible and therefore more nutritious. Floating feed is made by extruder machine, and sinking feed with high water stability can also be made by extruder machine. In some cases, extruders are used only to prepare feed materials, such as the dry extrusion of soybeans.

Basically, the extruder is a long barrel with a auger that is specifically designed to expose the incoming mixture to high heat and steam pressure. When the feed comes out of the die at the end of the barrel, the captured steam is quickly blown away, and the soft warm pellets expand, producing a low-density floating pellets. The extruder is widely used and can be made into feed with many different characteristics.

Fish Feed in Ghana
Feed constitutes the highest production cost (above 60%) in fish farming, especially in cage farming where complete floating feeds are used. Floating feeds are partly imported and produced in Ghana. The price of fish feeds fluctuates depending on the availability and prices of raw material on international markets. Locally manufactured feeds are on average 30% cheaper than imported feeds.
In Ghana, fish feed is imported duty-free and operated by the private sector. All imported feeds are float-expanded feeds with particle sizes ranging from 0.3 mm to 6 mm. Powder/shredded fish feed is also imported. Go to see the wet type fish feed extruder machinewet type fish feed extruder machine.

Beside commercially produced feeds, farm-made feeds and supplemental feeds (agriculture by-products) are being used locally, mainly in pond farming. The formulation of farm-made feeds is mainly depending on the costs of ingredients rather than the nutritional requirement of the fish. Feeds are pelletized using simple other purpose build electric devices and presented to fish either as wet doughs and moist feeds during the rainy season and as dried feeds during the dry season.
Very few farmers use premixes in the feeds. Farm-made feeds are poorly bound and quickly disintegrate in contact with water. They are also poorly digestible. Small-scale pond farmers practice supplemental feeding additional to pond fertilisation. Common supplemental feed ingredients are wheat bran, maize bran, rice bran and other cereal brans, which are readily available on the market. A minority of pond farmers use commercial floating feeds.

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