Campaign to teach women from central Kenya how to cook fish

Grace Njeri (left) and Alice Gakuhi at Mweiga trading centre in Nyeri yesterday during a campaign to popularise fish eating in the region. (PHOTO: KIBATA KIHU/ STANDARD)

Women in Nyeri have admitted that they cannot cook fish even though it has become a popular delicacy locally.
Margaret Gichuhi confessed that she only tried cooking fish once and the result was disastrous.
She swore never to try it again.

“I bought fish fillet, put some oil in a pan, cut up some onions and tomatoes and placed the fish on top. Unfortunately, after a few minutes, my fish fillet looked like rice,” Ms Gichuhi said.

However, it is not just the fish fillet that is a challenge. For Juliana Wambui, preparing a whole fish was the worst experience.
“I attempted to deep-fry the fish and it was very disgusting because after hours in the hot oil, the fish came out hard as a coal and I had to throw it away,” Wambui confessed. Felisters Wanjiru hasnever tried to cook fish because she says it is a ‘foreign’ delicacy.

“I think fish is very delicate. It smells funny and I am certain it would turn into a disaster if I tried to put it in a pot of stew with potatoes or cabbage,” Wanjiru said.

She said as far as her culinary skills are concerned, if it doesn’t have some soup, it’s not edible.

These culinary challenges are the reason the Department of Fisheries has embarked on an initiative to teach the women how to cook fish. This, according to the department, will help encourage consumption of the delicacy in Central region.

The campaign dubbed SmartFish programme is a regional fisheries initiative, funded by the European Union, managed by the Indian Ocean Commission and co-implemented by the Food and Agricultural Organisation in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.

During a five-day tour of key markets in Nyeri, the team leading the initiative pointed out that cultural practices and lack of information could be the reason fish consumption remains low.

The team nutritionist Susan Njeri explained that a majority of people in Central and Eastern regions did not grow up cooking fish in their homes.

"Culturally fish was not prepared in the homes. Each generation grows up unaware or unwilling to consume fish because they consider it strange or dangerous," Ms Njeri noted.

She explained that there are several misconceptions about fish, including that fish bones are a choking hazard and children should not be served the dish. She also pointed out that while production was high in the region due to the Economic Stimulus Programme fish ponds, the market remained elusive because farmers and their families do not consume the fish.

According to Nyeri Agriculture and Fisheries Executive Robert Thuo, there are 2,097 fish farmers with 2,270 fish ponds in the county. Wamagana plant processes 222kg of fish per week.