1. Introduction
Faced with dwindling marine fish resources, the Senegalese authorities have identified aquaculture as one of the likely solutions to the problem of animal protein shortages. Aquaculture is therefore considered as a strategic sector and is one of the pillars of the Emerging Senegal Plan (ESP), which aims to transform Senegal into an emerging country based on sustained and sustainable growth. Today, aquaculture is also seen as a means of creating gainful employment. Production increased from 334 tons in 2011 to 1095 tons in 2014 and 2082 tons in 2016. The rate of increase in production is estimated at 71.3% in 2016 [1] . However, despite immense natural potential (750 km of coastline, 1700 km of rivers, etc.) and favorable local eco-geographical conditions, fish farming has not yet reached a viable economic dimension. Total production in 2010 was only 200 tons, mainly of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) [2] . Tilapia is the most consumed fish in the world (over 7.6 million tons in 2014) and the second most consumed species group worldwide, behind carp (19.3 million tons) and ahead of salmonids (3.17 million tons of salmon and trout) [3] .
Tilapia is the preferred choice for fish farming in Senegal because it can be reared all year round, in open or closed systems, and because of its rapid growth, adaptability to a variety of ecosystems and tasty meat.
In the Kedougou region of eastern Senegal, there is a persistent shortage of fish products. In fact, 90% of fish products come from other regions of Senegal, and fishing activity is dominated by inland fishing. Annual production is estimated at 200 tons of fish (tilapia accounts for around 25% - 30% of landings), which is destined directly for local consumption but does not meet local demand. Furthermore, according to FAO standards, an average person should consume 16 kg of fish per year, whereas in the Kedougou region the average consumption per person per year is 7 kg. This is well below the average consumption of the Senegalese population, which is 25 kg of fish per person per year. These figures show that there is a real shortfall to be made up.
In response to this concern, the State of Senegal has established a Community Agricultural Estate in the department of Kedougou, with a fish farm producing tilapia and catfish. However, this farm faces the problem of supplying high quality male monosex fry at low cost. This situation prompted this research on the contribution of Garcinia kola to the productivity and economic profitability of tilapia production, with the following objectives.
● Evaluate tilapia fish production process and production costs;
● Identify the best operational scenario
● Identify the strategic directions and prospects for growth and development of the tilapia value chain;
● Demonstrate the contribution of feed supplements in achieving the objectives of the production.
The overall analysis of this research work includes, on the one hand, a technical analysis of the production and, on the other hand, an economic analysis of the different scenarios.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Presentation of the Study Area
2.1.1. Presentation of the Itato Community Agricultural Estate (DAC) Fish Farm
The DAC fish farm is located in the village of Itato, 15 km from the city of Kedougou. It is close to the Gambia River, a strategic choice that ensures a continuous supply of water to the ponds. The following infrastructure is on site: a pumping station to draw water from the Gambia River, a hatchery, grow-out units consisting of concrete tanks, a store for the storage of feed and rearing materials, and aboveground tanks used as experimental tools for this study.
2.1.2. Hatchery
In order to guarantee control of the production cycle, Community Agricultural Estates Programme (PRODAC) has invested in the construction of a hatchery with a capacity of over one million fry, thus ensuring its own supply. The best hygiene conditions, combined with rigorous quality control at each stage of production (eggs, larvae, fry), mean that each rearing cycle can be carried out under the most controlled conditions. High quality equipment has been installed in the hatchery to ensure its smooth operation in particular and that of the fish farm in general.
2.1.3. Research Methodology
The methodology used to achieve the objectives of the study consists of three phases. The first, devoted to the production system, consists of three (03) cohorts monitored by technicians. The second phase defines the type of treatment per cohort (either hormone, petit kola or simple feed) and the third phase is dedicated to the comparative financial analysis of the three scenarios.
2.1.4. Production System
The station’s production system is semi-intensive, with production targets of at least 500,000 juveniles and 20,000 tons of fish per year. For this study, production targets are set at 21,600 male juveniles and 6480 tons of fish per year. The 12 aboveground tanks at the farm are divided into 3 sections. Each technician is responsible for monitoring a cohort from the larval to the juvenile stage. These activities are based on each stage (fry rearing, pre-fattening, fattening) of the fish farm, as follows.
3. Cohort production planning
Table 1 shows the planning of production according to the cohorts.
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Table 1. Planning to produce by cohort.
The fry rearing, pre-growth and growing stages are closely monitored to achieve the desired yields for a given treatment. This monitoring includes determining the production cost of each treatment/cohort.
The simulation, designed to analyze production costs, covered two fish production cycles. Table 2 shows the production parameters/2 cycles.
In order to establish the projected income statement, the experiment involved three cohorts:
ü Cohort 1 (Bac1, 2, 3 and 4), monitored by a technician. This is the batch fed with industrial feed containing 40% protein and no supplements;
ü Cohort 2 (Bac5, 6, 7 and 8), monitored by the same technician as Cohort 1, is the batch fed with 17-α-methytestosterone and industrial feed containing 40% protein;
ü Cohort 3 (Bac9, 10, 11 and 12) is monitored by a female technician. This is the batch fed industrial chow containing 40% protein and 20 g of Garcinia kola powder;
Tables 3-5 show the production data for two production cycles/cohort.
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Table 3. Production data for two production cycles/cohort1.
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Table 4. Production data for two production cycles/cohort2.
NB: *Individuals fed with feed containing the hormone have a very high mortality rate.
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Table 5. Production data for two production cycles/cohorts3.
4. Determining the Operating Costs of a Production System
4.1. Cost of Purchase
The cost of materials is calculated under the same conditions as the cost of goods for a commercial enterprise. These are mainly fingerlings which, when grown, will produce commercial tilapia. The delivery costs are zero because the fry come directly from the fish farm. The purchase cost is calculated as follows:
Purchase cost = Purchase price (net of discounts obtained) + Supply costs
4.2. Cost of Production
Production costs include the cost of raw materials used and direct and indirect production-related expenses. Raw materials are generally fish feed and chemical and prophylactic products. Direct labour costs include the salary of the farm technician. The technician is paid 40,000 Franc CFA per month.
4.3. Cost Price
As in a commercial enterprise, this is the cost of the product put on the market. It includes distribution costs as well as any other costs that the company chooses to allocate to this level, such as storage costs or any other costs considered “non-production”. In the case of this study, distribution costs are those associated with marketing.
The cost price of one kilogram of tilapia is 487 Francs CFA for scenario 1; 622 Francs CFA for scenario 2 and 484 Francs CFA for scenario 3. Table 6 presents the results of the Tilapia production costs.
Production cost = cost of raw materials + direct costs (labour) + Indirect costs (from the allocation table)
5. Comparative Analysis of Farm Typology
The use of typologies makes it possible to produce synthetic information that can be used, at different scales and in different ways, to support management decisions in the sector.
We have used the typology, which is a representation in table form of the disparities existing in our case study, i.e. three operating situations of the DAC fish farm, for a more detailed and relevant analysis of the information received about the GEA (Group of Agricultural Entrepreneurs) fish farm. Table 7 presents the farm typologies of the three scenarios.
An agricultural holding is first and foremost a decision-making center, a production unit, an organization and a set of interactions between the various components. It is characterized by the description of its activities, the production obtained and the factors of production mobilized. It is a production unit within which the farmer mobilizes resources of various types (land, labour, inputs, equipment, etc.), which he combines in variable proportions to obtain certain productions (outputs) in order to satisfy his needs and interests. In our study, the comparison between the different elements relating to the factors of production shows that there are only differences in the input factor, where in scenarios 2 and 3 we see the use of additional products in production, 17-α-methyltestosterone for scenario 2 and Garcinia kola for scenario 3 (Table 7). This will have a significant impact on fish production, with a relatively high mortality rate for scenario 2 (25%), as shown by the production data for two production cycles/cohort2 (B5, B6, B7 and B8) treated with 17-α-methyltestosterone. For scenarios 1 and 3, mortality was 5% with or without the use of an additional product (Garcinia kola). In addition, the average fish production in relation to the three (03) scenarios is estimated at 28687.5 kg/2 cycles. It varies from one scenario to another, i.e. 30937.5 kg/2 cycles for scenarios 1 and 3 and 24187.5 kg/2 cycles for scenario 2. It is therefore higher in systems 1 and 3 than in system 2. This difference is due to the relatively high loss of individuals in scenario 2.
NB:
v Production targets of at least 21,600 male fry;
v fingerling requirements for grow-out: 3600 fingerlings;
v Production of 6480 kg of fish: i.e. 6480 tons of marketable fish (production from 12 aboveground tanks);
v Sales of male fingerlings: 176,400 fingerlings sold.
6. Comparative Financial Analysis of These Fish Farm Scenarios
Operating Account Scenarios
Tables 8-10 present the production data for two production cycles/cohort.
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Table 8. Scenario 1 Fish are fed a simple industrial feed containing 40% protein.
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Table 9. Scenario 2 Fish are treated with 17-α-methytestosterone and industrial feed containing 40% protein.
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Table 10. Scenario 2 Fish are treated with industrial feed containing 40% protein and 20 g of G. kola powder.
7. Discussion
In order to assess the financial performance of the different fish farming scenarios identified, the following financial indicators were considered: production cost per kg of fish, net operating income (NOI) and financial return. For the sake of simplicity, the operating account for each scenario was prepared for 2 production cycles (one production year). A production cycle is an activity that includes all operations from the preparation of the infrastructure to the harvesting of marketable fish.
Production costs consist of all expenses incurred in the production of fish for two (02) production cycles. Variable costs or operating costs are costs whose amount varies with the level of production. They include the cost of purchasing fry and feed, energy costs (solar panels, maintenance), small equipment, salaries for occasional paid labour, etc. Fixed costs are costs that do not depend on the level of fish production. In this case they are the depreciation costs of the equipment. Cost accounting has made it possible to evaluate the costs of equipment used both for fish farming activities and for other activities in the fish farm unit. To derive the cost of producing one kilogram (kg) of tilapia, we need to calculate the ratio of all these production-related costs to the total quantity (kg) of fish produced by the farm. In our study, the cost of production varies from one scenario to another depending on the type of farm (476 FCFA for scenario 1, 610 FCFA for scenario 2 and 472 FCFA for scenario 3).
Operating income (OI): Operating income is the portion of net income generated by the current and normal activity of a system. It is calculated as the difference between the operating revenue and the operating costs of the system over the course of its financial year [4] . The average ROE for all fish farming units is 34,726,142 FCFA. The highest (41,638,075 FCFA) and lowest (29,281,075 FCFA) ROEs were observed in scenarios 3 and 2, respectively. It was FCFA 33,259,275 for scenario 1. The difference between the NERs of the three systems is more or less significant (p < 0.05) in relation to the figures for the results obtained. The operating result (ER) is positive in all 3 scenarios of our study.
However, the Scenario 3 system generates a higher rate of return (the ratio between an income and the capital employed to obtain that income) (74%) than the Scenario 1 system (69%). As for the Scenario 2 system, it generates a lower financial return than the two previous systems (67%); (Table 11). Table 11 shows the summary of the three financial profitability comparison indicators for the three operating scenarios.
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Table 11. Comparison indicators for the three operating scenarios.
8. Conclusion
We have tried to provide some answers to the structuring question of this work: “Contribution of Garcinia kola to the productivity and economic profitability of the farm on the Kedougou communal farm: Financial and comparative analysis of production factors”. To do this, we opted for a systemic approach based on consideration of the context in which fish farming is carried out in a given area. Above all, this work has allowed us to construct an approach that makes it possible to answer such a question by relying successively on different methods: a typology of the production factors involved in the operation of the DAC fish farm, through an analysis that makes it possible to classify the main types of variable according to the nomenclature of production factors. The environmental analysis of each of the main types of scenario allowed the assessment of their potential impact, their level of efficiency and the points to be improved; a fractional factorial design experiment allowed the testing of two parameters, namely the use of the hormone 17-α-methyl testosterone and Garcinia kola on productivity and economic profitability, in order to define the most influential and to propose “optimal” scenarios from the point of view of their sustainability, according to the convincing results obtained in terms of profitability with the G. kola powder test. G. kola powder test is in order to find the most appropriate combinations of factors for optimizing the fish farming system(s) based on the producers’ practices, taking into account technical, economic and environmental criteria.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Assane Seck University for allowing and supporting this study.