The Aquaculture Business Development Programme (ABDP) and the Kakamega county government have invested more than 500 million in fish farming project to boost food security.
The programme dubbed ‘Adopt a Fish’ leverages on the county’s natural resources to uplift rural communities.
Through the county’s pact with ABDP, there have been remarkable strides in empowering women, youths, and PWDs through inclusive practices across various value chains.
Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa reiterated that the county has invested about Sh216 million to support fish farmers by procuring pond liners, predator nets and fingerlings among others.
“We also offer extension services and more importantly we have created employment opportunities encouraging them to venture into fish farming. We have received Sh270 million to support fish farming from IFAD,” Barasa said.
The governor who was speaking when he visited a fish farmer in Matungu, called on residents to make use of the fish farming investment programme.
Kakamega county has four public dams stocked or restocked with mixed-sex tilapia fingerlings by IFAD/ABDP which support approximately 1,200 household members.
The dams which are situated in the northern part of Kakamega are Lugulu and Siyenga in Likuyani sub-county, and Musemba and Mwamba in the Lugari constituency.
In the financial years 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 a total of 624 new ponds were constructed, some 1361 were rehabilitated and 1,901,100 fingerlings stocked.
The fingerlings which were valued at Sh16.5 million had an output of 147,211kgs of harvested fish worth Sh53.4 million.
The county has spent Sh11.1 million on pond stocking, distribution of extension kits, construction of ponds, and pond renovations.
ABDP has seen the distribution of 710,000 fingerlings to the 12 constituencies while the county government facilitated distribution of fish feeds, hatchery materials, a boat with an engine, and digital weighing scales in the financial year 2023/2024.
Fish farmers have welcomed the county and ABDP initiative and urged Governor Barasa to compel the Kakamega Fish Factory to buy fish from local farmers.
“We need to be empowered as much as the governor is helping on one hand, on the other hand, we want him to compel the factory to give local farmers priority by buying their raw materials which are fish for processing,” said Cyrus Akhonya a fish farmer from Lurambi constituency.
Last year, Kakamega county secured a deal to export at least 10 tonnes of fish to Italy every week. It becomes the first devolved unit to land such a lucrative deal out of the 47 counties in Kenya.
The county administration is banking on the Sh120 million Lutonyi fish processing plant to boost aquaculture.
The facility got clearance to serve as a fish aggression, warehousing, and international fish export centre after meeting stipulated European Union standards.
Chief Officer for Fisheries Jessica Weku noted that the initiative on Small Aquaculture Groups (SAGS) comprises 30 level-one fish farmers from the same Aquaculture Development Area.
“They register a group with the aim of collective training, sourcing of inputs, finance and marketing. The program targets 98 SAGS so far, of which the county has boarded 94 SAGS,” Weku said.
Further, there is an initiative at Mumunyonzo Dam Integrated Agriculture Project (MDIAP) which is located in Nzoia ward, Likuyani constituency.
The project sits on a 15-acre piece of land featuring a rehabilitated dam that covers 5 acres and stores surface runoff from a catchment area of approximately 2.7 square kilometers.
The project’s primary objective is to enhance aquaculture in the community by demonstrating modern fish farming techniques.
This objective is achieved by installing fish cages in the dam, stocking it with fingerlings, and utilising its waters for irrigated agriculture including cultivation of African leafy vegetables.
These initiatives aim to improve productivity and optimize resource use- it is designed to benefit 7,027 people including 2,816 men and 4,211 women with a focus on vulnerable and marginalized groups.
The project introduced an innovative solution dubbed Fresh Fish Fridays which helps address the challenge of fish marketing in the northern region of Kakamega.
As of August 23, 2024, Mumunyonzo had successfully organised 35 fresh fish market days selling 1,684kgs of fish at Sh500 per kilo generating revenue worth Sh842,000.
ABDP County Program Coordinator Norman Munala termed the five-year implementation of their programme with Kakamega county as a success which he said has positively impacted the residents.
“One of the greatest lessons learned during this implementation is the approach of the Aquaculture Field School methodology of extension and training where the farmer becomes the expert,” Munala said.
This, he said, is made possible when farmers put into action the learning and interpret results themselves which has had an overall increase in both constructed and rehabilitated fish ponds.
