Leverage on the experience of fishermen

One of my life’s greatest moments was when I escorted my son Kiseko to university. It is a similar feeling for all parents as they experience their children’s first day in the challenging but rewarding world of higher education.

Nelson Mandela reminded us that ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’ We must not therefore limit ourselves to traditional primary, secondary and college education learning methods but focus on the fourth Sustainable Development Goal that calls on the world to ‘Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning.’

The tragedy of Africa is that experts whose expertise has accumulated through decades of experience in their respective fields of work are often not regarded as such if they don’t have the academic papers to back up their expertise. Consequently, their lifelong learning rarely opens prosperous doors for them.

As a case in point, thousands of men from Homa Bay, Migori, Busia and Kisumu counties have invaluable fishery expertise. But that priceless fishery education, accumulated through cold nights in the lake, hasn’t pulled most of them out of grinding poverty. A 23-year-old who has recently graduated with a fishery degree has brighter economic prospects than these fishermen.

With 80 per cent of Kenya’s portion of Lake Victoria in Homa Bay, this county has a bigger stake and responsibility in tapping into and enhancing the fishery knowledge of its fishermen. In USA, there are five training centres that teach fishermen basic knowledge on commercial fishing that can earn them about Sh4million per year, which averages to at least Sh300,000 a month.

To earn such figures, fishermen are taught about practical issues like navigational instruments critical in deep sea fishing, fish products, processing of these fish products, fish biology, environmental conservation and even repair of damaged boat engines or fishing gear. They are then awarded certification that legitimises their learning.

Last year, Homa Bay County initiated a process of equipping artisanal fishermen with life jackets that can literally save their lives.

This is a commendable! In addition to such great steps, the fishermen of this xounty and other fishing counties should be handed educational life jackets that will save them from drowning in perpetual poverty.

Whoever rolls out such practical and innovative vocational training will make green money. But more importantly, such training will eventually open economic doors for the fishermen. There is no reason why they can’t earn six-figure monthly revenues within the next five years. After all, they know Africa’s largest fresh water lake like the back their hands. Think green, act green!