Even after pumping millions of shillings into an ambitious programme to spur farmed fish production in non-traditional areas, the Government appears to have lost the battle to popularise the delicacy.
Although there are clear signals that the project could have come a cropper, the Government is mulling another ambitious stab at placing fish at the centre of the dinner table in Mt Kenya and other highland areas.
Micheni Ntiba, the principal secretary for Fisheries, said the Government was looking at another fish production project, to cost Sh14 billion project, from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Finance Minister
The Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) project, mean to spur fish farming, was started between 2009 and 2010 when Uhuru Kenyatta was Finance minister.
It had intended to raise farmed fish production to bridge the production gap from the natural sources.
“We were able to increase fish production to 60,000 metric tonnes only for the momentum to slow down after devolution came in 2013,” the PS said last week at Ahiti Ndomba in Kirinyaga County.
Prof Ntiba said the national demand for fish stood at 500,000 tonnes a year while local production was only 140,000 tonnes.
The PS, who is one of Kenya’s top marine scientists, said fish production had gone down, with 4,000 tonnes realised currently.
It is a far cry from the three years after the ESP programme launch when the Fisheries Department rolled out cooking and eating campaigns where crowds jostled for the delicacy.
In Nyeri, over 1,800 farmers were recruited into the fish farming programme, the number rising to 2,683, with 3,143 fish ponds by 2014.
In Mathira, there were 250 ponds when the ESP project started. Now there are less than 100, according to statistics from the county agriculture directorate.
Under the plan, farmers with suitable land who signed up would have ponds established by the Fisheries Department and stocked with 1,000 fingerlings and a 90 kilogramme sack of fish feed.
Fish processing
Grace Wairimu of Kiriti village in Tetu constituency was excited about the ESP plan because it cost her nothing but space on her farm.
However, fish feed was unaffordable and she had to get rid of her stock through consumption and giving away to neighbours.
Ntiba stopped short of admitting that pond fish farming had come to naught after the Government had pumped millions of shillings to help farmers construct and stock ponds and to set up inter-county fish processing factories across the country.
In Mt Kenya region, fish processing factories were set up at Kanyakine in South Imenti, Meru county, at Sh54 million, and at Wamagana in Tetu, Nyeri County, at Sh61 million under the ESP. They are now not in use.
The Wamagana factory has the capacity to process eight tonnes of fish a day and the Kanyakine one 12 tonnes a week.
When fully operational, the factories were also to produce fish feed, which at Sh1,600 for a 90 kilo bag is one of the main disincentives, according to Joseph Mutwiri, the chairman of the Meru Fish Farmers Cooperative Society.
The Wamagana and Kanyakine fish factories now lie unused because of lack of raw materials, raising questions about the viability of the project.
The construction of the county mini processing plants was prompted by the need to address the expected increase in fish harvests from the new ponds.
The facilities were also to serve as fish bulking and outlets for fish sales.
Post-harvest waste
Another reason for the fish factories in the counties was to shield farmers from exploitation by middlemen, ensure prices were safe from the expected glut in the market, and reduce post-harvest waste.
Nyeri County is currently promoting cage fish farming, with a pilot project at Chinga Dam, where local youth groups are assisted to set up cages that can accommodate 1,000 tilapia fingerlings.
