| Abstract: | Aquaculture has become increasingly important in meeting the deficit created by a declining capture fishery worldwide and increasing demand for fish at domestic market.. Previous researches indicate that development of aquaculture in most Eastern Africa countries is constrained by low adoption of appropriate technologies and innovations; weak aquaculture extension services and others. The purpose of this study is therefore to assess the factors that affects fish farming productivity and its sustainability; the case of Africa sustainable aquaculture B.V. Ethiopian branch (ASA). The study followed Mixed Methods approach , where both qualitative and quantitative researches were applied. Closed ended questionnaires and interview were data collection instruments used for this study. An 80% response rate was obtained from the ASA respondents. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics focusing on the frequency, mean, standard deviation and percentages and the analysis was processed by using statistical package for the social sciences(SPSS) version 20. To analyze the qualitative data, content analysis was conducted and finally it was triangulated with the quantitative. Study finding showed that there is no strong competitive market for supplying the required inputs for fish farming. Even if, fish farming technology is found on a satisfactory level, the inadequate inputs are the challenges that affect fish farming at ASA. Moreover, cost of adopting fish and the production cost for fish farming is found to be high which has its own negative impact on the sustainability of the business. This study recommended that ASA need to provide the required infrastructure for its commercial aquaculture production to minimize the challenges of aquaculture practice, which helps itself for increasing productivity and profitability in the future. |
