The Nigerian Catfish Aquaculture Value Chain is shown in the diagram on the right:

At the beginning of the Nigerian Aquaculture Value Chain are the Input Suppliers and at the end, the national and global consumers.

Input suppliers supply Fish feed, fingerlings and/or juveniles, hormones, vitamins, nets etc. from market shops directly to the fish farmers (Primary Producers) and hatchery operators who produce fish and sell to the primary wholesalers. These are the fish mammies/middlemen who then sell to retailers like market women, fast food restaurants and pepper soup joints. The industrial processors (large scale) and the market women (small scale) are the processors who sell to the consumers and also to other secondary retailers. The consumers are both local and international as can be seen from the diagram

In addition, Government institutions are the primary service providers who supply extension services (though skeletal), financial services by banks, Ministries and local agencies, who supply information and research institutes who supply data and information including capacity building training services which NGOs also provide as can be seen from the diagram. As seen above, the chain is relatively simple and not complex in the least.

In Nigeria, farmed catfish are sold mostly at the farm gates. Primary wholesalers (fish mammies, middle-men etc) have been responsible for developing the trade from the major fish farms in the country. Traditionally, these primary wholesalers transport live catfish to secondary wholesalers, however recently secondary wholesalers are visiting the primary producers where the primary wholesaler often purchases on their behalf. Secondary wholesalers will then sell to other retailers, while sometimes functioning as retailers themselves. Retailers then sell to restaurants and to home consumers. Particularly in the major production areas retailers and restaurants are cutting out the middlemen and increasingly buying directly from the farm. The majority of fresh catfish, especially the larger sizes, is ultimately sold to bukas, restaurants and hotels.

Capacity building of fish farmers is supplied by the institutions (primary service providers), who provide, trainings, information, data etc. Capacity building can also be provided by international agencies and developmental partners like DFID, AfDB, WORLDBANK, UNDP though the governmental institutions and local NGOs.