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A surveillance laboratory is set up for the shrimp industry

Context

Shrimp aquaculture has been affected by diseases for about fifteen years now which means that the industry has had limited success in many shrimp farming countries. Pandemics in America and Asia have had negative economic impacts in some countries. A number of importing countries (Europe, Japan, USA) have already introduced restrictive sanitary regulations on shrimp exports to their countries.

The shrimp industry is Madagascar’s biggest exporter and has so far been preserved from the internationally listed shrimp diseases. However, different levels of awareness to existing risks are to be found among Malagasy producers and the country does not have a system to diagnose these diseases.

Madagascar’s shrimp industry creates 10 000 jobs and 100 million euros of foreign currency for the country every year. The profession has opted for semi-intensive farming that respects the environment. Products are consequently positioned on the upper range of the market.

In order to protect this industry which is extremely important for the country’s economy, AFD has decided to support the implementation of a Malagasy control system in the framework of the Trade Capacity Building Program (TCBP). This program is part of a French plan to build trade capacities in developing countries so that poor countries can gain more benefits from globalization. The aid provided covers measures to strengthen export capacities and institutional technical assistance.

Objectives

The project aims to improve the competitiveness of shrimp sector businesses by helping them meet the requirements of export markets and by reducing sanitary risks relating to shrimp farming.

It specifically aims:

to organize regular epidemiological and sanitary monitoring for all the country’s industrial or small-scale shrimp farms
to support the sector by building capacities to diagnose shrimp diseases in Madagascar.

Project description

The project is implemented by the Madagascar Institut Pasteur and involves:

Setting up a high-level laboratory specialized in diagnosing viral shrimp diseases
Strengthening and upgrading Malagasy regulations in order to make shrimp disease control and surveillance compulsory
Raising the awareness of all sector stakeholders in terms of disease risk and training staff in sampling and interpreting tests

Impacts

The health authority is competent to issue sanitary certificates on the basis of laboratory results (viral diseases). These certificates will be required for exports, particularly to the European Union (the bulk of Madagascar’s production is destined for the European market);

Aquaculture farms improve the way they monitor their shrimps and can consequently reduce the impacts of diseases on their activity and contain the spread of pandemics;

The aquaculture sector has been rapidly expanding since the 1990s, employs 5 000 people and is an economic engine in the very remote areas where the farms are located.

Dates and amounts

Start-up: 2005
Financing: €1.4M grant to the Malagasy State reallocated to the Institut Pasteur of Madagascar (IPM) for the implementation of the project

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A player testifies

Eliane Chunge, director of the shrimp epidemiosurveillance laboratory and research director at the Institut Pasteur

“It is very important to say that Madagascar’s shrimps are disease-free. Our country’s capacity to export depends on this.”

“Madagascar is currently defining sanitary regulations that will apply to trade in aquatic animals and will comply with European directives. In addition to this regulatory basis Madagascar wanted to set up an epidemiosurveillance and diagnosis laboratory for shrimp diseases. The laboratory is needed for official surveillance controls in the industry and for the certificates that are required for exports. The laboratory is now operational: staff have been recruited and trained in diagnosis-making, surveillance and official controls. Aquaculture farmers may need tests in order to monitor their production or because they suspect there is a problem in which case they send us their samples. It’s just like in human medicine, a doctor diagnoses a situation and prescribes tests to confirm this diagnosis. It’s the same thing for shrimps: we make a diagnosis and the aquaculture farmers take the necessary action. It is very important to say that Madagascar’s shrimps are free of the diseases tracked down by sanitary police in importing countries. Our country’s capacity to export depends on this.”