AquaLink Services was founded and registered in 2020 under the Business Registration Act as a Partnership. The business has three partners who each hold an equal share of ownership: Pemphero Kumbani (Operations Director), Precious Sanjama (Director of Marketing) and Moses Simwaka (Production Director). AquaLink Services envisions itself as a leading supplier of aquaculture inputs, equipment and aligned services including fish feed, fingerlings, seine nets, scoop nets, hapa nets, measuring boards, weighing scales, waders, graders, and hormones. The company’s business objective is to grow their sales volumes, turnover and profitability by providing quality inputs to smallholders. 

For over three years, AquaLink Services has supported over 900 smallholder livestock farmers in their production operations. The company has also been engaged to supply agricultural equipment and services to various organizational clients including the Government of Malawi’s Department of Fisheries, private companies, non-governmental organisations, and government projects across the country. With six full-time and 20 part-time employees, the company has its main shop in Lilongwe, and three outlets in Blantyre, Zomba, and Mzuzu.

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Upscaling the Commercialisation of BSF-based Feed for Poultry and Aquaculture for Enhanced Viable Production by Smallholders

This project planned to demonstrate that the use of Black Soldier Fly (BSF)-based feeds for fish and poultry has the potential to reduce the cost per unit of output and improve production volumes for smallholder fish and poultry farmers by replacing the more expensive soybean-based ingredients with BSF-based ingredients.

To commercialise the production and use of BSF as a protein source for livestock feeds among smallholders in the aquaculture and poultry sectors, AquaLink Services promotes and supplies a small on-farm BSF production solution as a package comprising BSF larvae production units, starter pack of larvae, and embedded support services, including user training and technical backstopping to smallholder fish and poultry farmers. The business refined an existing unit for producing BSF larvae by redesigning it to meet the needs of smallholder farmers working in these two value chains. 

At a total project cost of £61,394 (with CASA providing £40,719), this 12-month project, ending May 2025, supported Aqualink to conduct a feasibility study of their business model and, finding that it was viable, supported further to redesign the production unit for smallholder use. The project then built AquaLink’s internal capacities to attract financing for the model as a precursor to piloting it with smallholders who are members of existing out-grower schemes with agri-SME buyers. Such finances were not yet secured by the end of the project period. 

To acquire capital assets to facilitate the expansion of production and sales of on-farm BSF production units, AquaLink is seeking an investment of £75,000 and a further £30,000 into six selected agri-SMEs and the smallholder farmers in their value chains towards the product purchase financing. AquaLink then plans to reach 3,000 smallholder farmers with the technology.

Updated: July 2025