Vihiga farmers ride on a new wave of fish farming

When Zinath Deen began fish farming more than a decade ago, she never imagined that a day would come when she would stand on her small farm in Jepkoyai and watch hundreds of fellow farmers across Vihiga embrace the same venture.

For years, she worked quietly around her ponds—sometimes alone, misunderstood, and wondering whether fish farming could ever find a place in a county long defined by maize and vegetables.

Her journey started in 2013 after attending a workshop on improved fish farming practices in Nairobi. Inspired, she returned home determined to test the waters on her two-acre farm.

She dug her first pond and stocked it with Nile tilapia fingerlings. Being new to the field, her first harvest was far from impressive, but she refused to give up.

“I used to tell people that fish can feed a household just like maize does,” she says with a soft laugh.

“But many looked at me like I was wasting my time. Today, those same people are asking me where to get fingerlings.”

Deen, 72, is living proof of what consistency, innovation, and community involvement can build in agribusiness.

She has practised fish farming for years, harvesting tilapia and catfish every six to nine months—cycles she proudly contrasts with the uncertainties of maize production.

“With maize, you wait for rains and pray the seasons favour you. With fish, once your pond and feeding are right, you already know when you will harvest. It is predictable, and that is why it feeds families reliably,” she said.

Over time, Deen has become a pillar of Vihiga’s aquaculture revolution. She does more than just rear fish in her ponds—she runs one of the most reliable small-scale fingerling hatcheries in the region.

Her hatchery produces close to 100,000 fingerlings every three months. She sells 3–5 grams of fingerlings at Sh8 each, earning more than Sh500,000 in a single cycle—a figure she mentions with both gratitude and disbelief.

“When I started, I would produce a few thousand fingerlings and struggle to find buyers, but today I cannot even meet the demand as farmers call me from all sub-counties,” said Deen.

Beyond the hatchery, she has ventured into value addition, making fish samosas and fish kebabs—popular items at local markets, community events and school programmes.

Her mature fish weigh between 350 and 500 grams, each selling for about Sh200—earning profits she describes as unimaginable.

“It is a venture that feeds you and teaches you how to invest in smart agribusiness,” Deen noted.

Deen has extended her expertise to institutions, supporting Jepkoyai Primary School, Kivagala Primary School and others to set up functional ponds.

“I always tell school heads that when children learn to raise fish, they learn responsibility, they learn science, and they learn business,” she said.

Deen advises farmers to ensure their ponds have no existing life when restocking to avoid inbreeding, which she says leads to poor-quality fish.

Deen uses lime to eliminate frogs and other unwanted organisms.

Vihiga’s fish farming transformation has been accelerated by a Sh69 million aquaculture initiative funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) under the Advancing Resilient Nutrition-Sensitive Aquaculture (ARNSA) programme.

Deen’s work, in many ways, laid the foundation for this wider institutional push that is now shaping the county’s aquaculture landscape.

The programme seeks to address Kenya’s 400,000-metric-tonne national fish deficit, boost local production and position counties like Vihiga as key contributors to national and export markets.

So far, 450 farmers—including Deen—have received more than 450,000 fingerlings, bird nets, predator nets, 3,600 bags of fish feed and support for pond construction.

Since March this year, each farmer has been rearing at least 1,000 fingerlings in what has become the county’s largest coordinated aquaculture initiative.

The county has also acquired one vehicle and three motorcycles for extension officers to help farmers adopt best practices.

“This project has come at the right time, as many of us were ready to scale up but needed technical help and affordable feeds,” Deen said.

Among the most exciting aspects of the programme is the involvement of Moi Girls Vokoli and Nyang’ori Boys’ High School, where modern integrated fish–poultry–vegetable systems have been installed.

At Nyang’ori Boys, Principal Peter Lunani says the school’s more than 1,200 learners will benefit from the fish farm launched in March this year.

“Our goal was to introduce a system that teaches students practical agricultural skills while boosting nutrition,” Lunani said.

“We expect to harvest the first fish in January 2026 when the boys return from their holiday. They will enjoy the protein, and they will learn the science behind it,” he added. 

He further explained that the integrated fish farming system has reduced waste within the compound, creating a circular model where poultry waste fertilises fish ponds and nutrient-rich fish water irrigates vegetables.

“This is the kind of learning that prepares our boys for the future,” he said.

The NORAD/ARNSA Vihiga County Project Coordinator Wilson Munala noted that integrated systems are central to the county’s fish revolution.

“This is one of the modern ways of fish farming to ensure we utilise every by-product from the ponds,” Munala said.

He added, “It reduces input costs and increases yields. Farmers get fish, vegetables and sometimes poultry—three income streams in one.”

At the same time, the county continues to strengthen fingerling supply through the Mwitoko Fish Hatchery and Aquaculture Training Centre.

The centre can produce 10,000 catfish fingerlings, 21,000 monosex tilapia fingerlings and more than 100,000 mixed tilapia fingerlings every month.ture growth in Vihiga,” Munala noted.

As the NORAD/ARNSA project nears completion, several farmers have already begun harvesting.

In Sabatia Sub-County, Collins Amugune is among the first beneficiaries to complete a cycle, harvesting fish weighing between 300 and 500 grams.

He said the project has given farmers the confidence and technical support they long needed.

“I will be buying more fingerlings from my sales. This project has changed my outlook completely,” he said.