The Strengthening Regional Capacity in Research and Training in Fisheries and Aquaculture for Improved Food Security and Livelihoods in Eastern Africa (STRECAFISH) project kick-off meeting was held at Kolping Hotel, Kampala from the 24th to 28th August 2015. The project will be implemented for 3 years starting July 2015 to 2018 coordinated by Department of Biological Sciences, Makerere University. Dr. Peter Akoll, a Lecturer in the department is the Principal Investigator.STRECAFISH is an academic partnership Project between Makerere University, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria, University of Eldoret, Kenya and Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The consortium also includes Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), School of Women and Gender Studies and Department of Performing Arts and Film, Makerere University.The project goal is to build capacity in HEIs towards improved response of education to the fast moving aquaculture and fisheries industry.

STRECAFISH is funded under the Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education and Research for Development (APPEAR) which is an academic programme under the International Cooperation and Mobility of the Centre for International Cooperation and Mobility of the Austrian Agency for International Cooperation in Education and Research (OeAD) funded by Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC).

STRECAFISH is intended to deliver the following during its implementation.

1) establish Public Private Partnerships (PPP) networking platform and enhance their involvement in curricula development/ realignment to enhance networking among private, public and academic institutions though.

2) Establish platform for sharing the limited human and infrastructure resources to address the lack of vibrant institutional and regional networking in training and research in the aquatic sciences.

3) adopt field-oriented modular approaches and develop regionally acceptable technologically versatile audio-visual teaching aids to improve training approaches

4) support graduate students, student-staff-exchange to undertake critical research and organizing tailored training to increase number of fit-for-the-demand human capacity that will respond to fast-moving changes in fisheries and aquaculture sectors in Eastern Africa and

5) establush and operatiionalise aquaculture villages in Ethiopia as models to stimulant uptake and investment in aquaculture.

The project will be guided by three objectives:

a) Establishing educational and research networking that is responsive to the fast moving aquaculture and fisheries industry in Eastern Africa;

b) analyzing and realigning curricula and support capacity building activities that are fit-for-the demands of the stakeholders and

c) Fostering aquaculture development through tailor-made training of fishery officers, development agents and farmers as well as develop model aquaculture villages.