Tilapia farming is a growing industry in sub-Saharan Africa providing affordable protein but raising welfare questions around stocking density, disease and handling.
African tilapia farming occupies a different welfare development stage than established aquaculture in Europe and North America. The primary welfare priorities are water quality management through appropriate stocking density, disease prevention and treatment access, and improvement in harvest and killing practices. Cultural and economic contexts differ significantly from high-income country aquaculture, requiring welfare improvement approaches that are practical and economically feasible for small-scale African producers. International development programmes investing in African aquaculture have an opportunity to embed welfare standards from the outset rather than retrofitting them later.