This report describes the results of a review of five aquaculture projects that have been implemented in the past twelve years. The projects were located in Kenya (4) and Ethiopia (1). The aim of the review was to draw lessons and recommendations for design and implementation of future aquaculture projects. All projects had been funded completely or partly by the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands with the aim to support aquaculture sector development. Beside project documents the main sources of information were thirty two interviews with a range of project stakeholders. Four projects had capacity building as a major or even main component. The experiences and lessons learnt by Dutch and African project stakeholders as well as impacts on the aquaculture sector that lasted after project closure are described. Recommendations for design and implementation of future aquaculture projects are provided.