Fake feeds almost threw my fish project into a deep end

Experience they say, is the best teacher. Anne Kang’ong’, a fish farmer, knows this too well. In her ambitious journey, she made several blunders that almost sunk her fish business. Kang’ong’a, owner of Atoryas farm in Maragwa, Murang’a County, says her entry into fish farming has been eventful.

“I learnt everything the hard way. I started this project with so much promise and excitement but along the way encountered crippling challenges. But thank goodness, I have recovered and stabilised,” she says.

When Smart Harvest visited her at her farm, she was busy together with the farm manager Geoffrey Mwangi and several farmhands, transferring fingerlings from one tank to the other.

“I used to keep mature fish, but it turned catastrophic and I settled on fingerlings. Fingerling production is not labour intensive and costly like rearing mature fish,” Kang’ong’a says.

The farmer took up the venture in 2015 when there were spirited campaigns to promote fish consumption to boost food security and improve income for locals.

As part of the campaigns, the county governments dispatched personnel to popularise fish eating and rearing as a business.

Following the intensified campaigns, suddenly fish became a popular delicacy in many homes and hotels. And, just like that, a market was created. Like all aggressive businesspeople, Kang’ong’a capitalised on the growing demand.

To polish her skills on fish rearing, Kang’ong’a, visited fisheries office at Murang’a County to get expert tips on rearing fish.

She says the fishery officers helped her construct the pond, including putting the liner. They then referred her to one of fish breeders in Thika. She bought 2,500 fingerlings at Sh15 each and the bumpy journey into fish farming begun.

A month after stocking, Kang’ong’a bought fish feeds at the market. For two months, she fed the fish faithfully, but the results were depressing.

“Since everyone was rushing into fish farming, some unscrupulous businessmen sold fake feeds to me. I had no idea they would cause more harm than good,” she explains.

After five months of heavy feeding, Kang’ong’a realised the fish were still tiny. They were not growing. She sought the advice of an expert.

Fish never added weight

The verdict? She had been feeding her fish on fake meal. She had bought so much by the time she discovered the truth, there was still five full sacks of the same.

The business almost went under.

“That was a very stressful season for me. After some time, 500 fish died. It was a huge loss. But I soldiered on.”

But there was more bad news to come.

See, she had informed her friends and relatives that fish will be ready after six months and they were eagerly awaiting for the harvest. With time, the inquiries started coming.

“I did not want to tell them the truth, so I kept telling them to wait. At some point, l started avoiding questions and avoiding people altogether,” she recalls.

But with time, her ‘clients’ stopped asking and this gave her time to go back to the drawing board.

Second time round, instead of mature fish, she settled on rearing fingerlings. To avoid costly blunders, she engaged services of an expert. She started with 70 catfish and 50 tilapia for fingerlings hatching. In two months, she sold her first batch of fingerlings. It’s two years since she embarked on fingerlings hatching and she says business is good. She says fingerlings aren't labour intensive and also take a minimum of at least one month to be ready for the market.

On a good day, Anne sells 7,000 fingerlings at Sh10 each.

John Kamau, an expert in fish farming, says there is market for fingerling production because more people are getting into fish farming. He says fingerlings can be ready for stocking beginning one month.

Feeding will take 60 per cent of production cost. “If you get it wrong on feeds, it will affect the whole process of production,” he warns. Kamau says fingerlings can feed either on locally made feedsfrom dagaa and wheat bran, or commercial feeds. However, commercial feeds though well formulated, are quite expensive.