Fish pond makes Taveta farmer envy of neighbours

By PASCAL MWANDAMBO

Taveta,Kenya:Optimism: With a kilo of tilapia going for Sh300, the proceeds have enabled him earn more as well as avoid hunger in an area prone to famine

With a warm glow on his face, Mwavala Mlati smiles cynically. He says,  “When my neighbours saw me uprooting my vegetable garden they did not know what exactly I was up to.”

“Some thought I was digging a pit latrine while others thought probably I was putting up a new house. Others thought I was up for a lost cause after they realised I was digging fish ponds”.

 “Fish in this dry area. That’s incredible”, they muttered when I was within earshot. But that never bothered me. I pushed on regardless,” he says.

Stimulus Package

The farmer, however, had a clear plan in his mind. He had learnt about the Economic Stimulus Package (ESP) by the Government and was eager to implement it to supplement his income from crop farming.

Under the ESP fish farming component, the Government had already given out over Sh50 million for the project in Wundanyi and Taveta to boost and encourage the local farmers to make income from fish projects. The jobless youths were the first to benefit since they were given contracts to go around digging 600 ponds in the two constituencies.

Today, Mlati, a retired Kenya Breweries Ltd employee says he has no remorse over the decision, he made as the project has proved viable and has boosted his family income.

He noted that after digging the fish-ponds, the Government took him and other farmers for seminars on fish farming in Voi for more training on the projects. He then bought 900 fingerlings of Tilapia, which he provided with fish feeds.

He foresees a bright future in this kind of farming.

Less costly

 This is because he has lived in different parts of the country therefore understands the popularity of fish in peoples’ diets and the prices that it fetches. “Fish is more preferable to red meat and health experts deem it good for healthy lifestyles” he says.

On the market potential of fish he says that in Nairobi, for example, a kilo of fish goes for about Sh300 per kilo. “Suppose I sell the whole stock from my two ponds at this price. I might make a cool half a million,” he says optimistically.

Harvesting fish

Unlike in vegetable farming where a farmer has to care for the vegetable from nursery until they are ready for harvesting, fish does not demand all this, as it is not labour intensive.

“This is far much better than vegetable farming because once you observe all the requirements of fish farming there is no much work involved except feeding and harvesting the fish when they mature”, he adds.

As a fish farmer, he says he has never known hunger even as starvation bites hard in some parts of Taita-Taveta County due to crop failure in the previous season. “I hear people complaining of food shortage, but to me, that has never happened since fish serves as a substitute for most of the cereals grown in the area which form a component of most local meals,” Mlati says.

He plans to start selling the  catch of fish to hotels and the local markets and is optimistic that he will break even.

 Mlati, being one of the pioneer farmers who has embraced fish farming, has earned admiration from many locals in the area.

An official from the provincial administration said the project should be replicated in other parts of Taita.

“I feel very proud to buy fish reared locally unlike on most other instances where the fish has to come all the way from Mombasa or Kisumu,” he said.