No market for your farmed fish? Make sandwiches

Sometime in 2011 the government rolled out the Economic Stimulus Programme seeking to restore Kenya’s economy in the aftermath of the post-election violence. At that time, many farmers in Sagana, Kirinyaga County ventured into fish farming.

For the first time, farmers who didn’t have prior knowledge in rearing fish tried their hand in the venture after they were trained in hatchery management. They were also supplied with fish ponds in a project that sought to construct at least 200 farming ponds in 140 constituencies across the country. The ponds were then stocked with fingerlings which would be ready for harvesting six months later. But according to Neema Nyanchama, a farmer in Sagana, the project had unforeseen appalling outcomes.