Inventory of agro-industrial products and by-products that can be used in the production of fish feed in Burkina Faso

Abstract

The search for alternative sources of ingredients to fish meal and fish oil in fish feed is a major issue for
the development of aquaculture. The objective of this study, which was conducted in Burkina Faso, was
to contribute to the improvement of knowledge on the availability of plant ingredients in Burkina Faso
that can be used in fish feed. To do so, an inventory on the price and availability of agro-industrial
products and by-products was conducted from September 2013 to March 2014 with agro-industrial units
and traders in four administrative regions of Burkina Faso. In addition to prices, the nutritional quality of
these ingredients was compared to those of fishmeal and fish oil. During this study, we identified
vegetable ingredients that are sources of protein (oilcake, bran and flour) with protein contents ranging
from 13.7 to 49.2%. Local vegetable oils with high levels of Essential Fatty Acids (EFA) 6 to 50%
linoleic acid were also identified. In addition to their nutritional qualities, the low prices of these
vegetable ingredients on the local market compared to fish oil and fish meal would be a major asset for
the development of fish farming in Burkina Faso.