Fish Processing and Its Energy Dynamics in Zambia

Abstract

This study presents field data and results on local fish processing, its energy supply, and consumption in the Northern Province of Zambia. The study also evaluates the impact of processing conditions on fish quality and cost for the different processing systems available in the selected communities. The result shows that fuelwood is the primary source of energy for fish processing used either in a modified three-stone fire (MTSF) system or a recently developed kiln. The charcoal smoking alternative had the least fuel consumption, yet was not considered as the preferred option due to the high cost of the fuel, a smaller quantity of fish processed per batch and longer processing time. The result also revealed that irrespective of the system used, the type of fish being processed and the pre-smoking drying time had a significant impact on the total energy consumption. Overall, the smoking kiln was found to increase the quantity of fish processed by five folds, reduce fuel use by 48% and reduce the overall smoking time per kilogram fish processed by 39%. A relatively higher fish quality was obtained with the use of the smoking kiln in comparison with the MTSF and the charcoal smoking system. The use of the smoking kiln as a fish processing system is recommended because it improves the quality of the fish, can scale up fish processing due to its capacity and reduces energy use with its associated costs.