Old man reaps big from fishing among pastoralists

Joseph Lonyait carries his fishing net to Lake Turkana. [PHOTOS: ONYANGO JONAH/STANDARD]

Turkana,Kenya: Joseph Lonyait, 66, from Eliye village on the shores of Lake Turkana has never known anything else except fishing.

He started fishing in the lake in 1971 when he was a young man, an activity which helped him educate his children and put food on the table.

“My late father was a fisherman and I would accompany him to the lake when he went fishing. Going to school was not a priority then and this became my job and it has helped me to support my family. I sell the fish at the nearby Kalokol trading centre,” Lonyait told Wednesday Life recently as he fished in Lake Turkana.

Though he never stepped into a classroom, the father of 14 and a husband of two wives can speak a few Kiswahili words, which he says he learned through his interaction with other fishermen at the lake, and also after enrolling for adult education classes, which he later dropped out of because of too many commitments.

He says he can write his name, and can count money up to Sh100,000.

His day starts at 5am when he prepares breakfast for his children before releasing his goats into the grazing field at 6am.

“At 7am, I start my journey to the lake where I fish until 11am. Thereafter, I proceed to Kalokol market to sell my catch for the day. On a good day, I can get up to Sh7,000 and on a bad day, as little as Sh4,000,” Lonyait says with a smile.

He sells one kilogramme of fish for Sh40 to Sh50. He adds that fishermen sell the fish quickly in the market since there are no cold storage facilities. He uses a homemade boat he constructed from several logs of wood joined together.

No cold storage

“We ensure that the fish we harvest in the lake is sold promptly because if we fail to sell all of them the same day, we will be forced to throw away what remains,” he says.

Despite Turkana being a traditionally pastoralist area, where a man’s status is linked to the size of his livestock, the fisherman says he has lost his livestock to drought, hence fishing has remained his main economic activity.

“Recurring drought has wiped out our livestock. This has seen most locals turn to fishing so that they can restock their lost herds, put food on the table and educate their children,” he adds.

Through fishing, Lonyait has been able to educate his children. Two of his children are teachers in the region, while one is an assistant chief in Eliye sub-location. The others are in secondary and primary school.

“I have educated my children through fishing and I am not going to abandon it anytime soon. I want to ensure that all my children get quality education so that they can become self-reliant” he says.

Being a Jack of all trades, Lonyait also makes mats, which he sells in Lodwar. In addition, he grows sorghum through irrigation and can reap three 90-kilogramme bags per harvest, which he sells to supplement his income.