Mwangi Muiruri

31 August 2010

analysis

More growers in Central Province are taking up fish farming, leaving the Government unable to cope with a rising demand for ponds.

"I do not even understand it myself. Everyone is scrambling to transform this region into a Lake Victoria ... we don't have a lake here but we are now headed to becoming competitors in fish production," says Lilian Mwende, a fisheries officer in Kiambu district.

The transformation started late last year when the Government released Sh8 million for fish farming in 140 constituencies each under the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP). Those interested were required to present their proposals to the District's Fisheries Department. The benchmark to qualify was having an adequate piece of land that had a permanent source of water.

Government officers would then dig a pond measuring 300 square metres for the qualified farmer. Each pond was then stocked with 3,000 fingerlings. Today, every farmer with such qualifications wants a fish pond established in their farm. "For once we are moving in tandem with the farmers. This is one project that is registering marvellous success and personally I am happy for them," Central Provincial Commissioner Kiplimo Rugut says.

He says the area has the potential to create a cottage industry capable of expanding the job market. "Another thing I must appreciate is the work ethic of the locals and their persistence even in the face of setbacks," he says. One such farmer is Mrs Agnes Gathecha who besides embracing the fish pond project has gone ahead and established three additional private ponds in her farm.

"My primary interest was to farm fish for subsistence and beautification within my compound, but now I have realised fish farming is one of the most lucrative forms of agriculture. You do not depend on rain or the size and the type of your farm," she says. Already in horticulture, dairy and poultry farming, she wants to take fish farming seriously and use it to boost her income.

"Besides participating in Government procedures clustering us into cooperatives for easier and convenient marketing, I am already strategizing on opening a fish restaurant in Githunguri Township," she says. The fish farmers have been conducting a market survey in which they have been donating fish to area restaurants to enrich menus and the feedback has been encouraging.

Mrs Gathecha confirms that area residents have included fish in their diets due to the huge interest in fish farming. Some of the challenges she is facing include a lack of technical know-how as well as the financial implications. "When the Government initiated this project, it stated that it would fully finance me until I hit the market with my fish and pocket a tidy sum of hard cash. It turned out to be false hope," she laments.

She realized that the Government had only set aside Sh25,000 for digging the pond. "This money was linked to the Kazi Kwa Vijana programme where 10 youths were paid the amount, to dig the pond, I was then left on my own to do the final touches" she says. These final touches proved to be a financial challenge for her since she had to purchase a polythene liner for the pond, which required Sh23,000.

Other costs, brought the total bill to Sh31,000. When the Government stocked her pond with fingerlings, within a month they turned out to be frogs!

Technical know-how

She had to restock and that's when she realized that she had no technical know-how on fishpond management and had to go to the ministry for help. "They took me to a Fisheries Research Centre in Nanyuki where for two weeks I was trained. On coming back, I realized there was no fish feed in the market," she says.

This was procured in the ministry . "Today, in the seventh month of struggle, I can say I'm headed somewhere. At least all my four ponds have fish that will be ready for harvest soon," she says. She is specializing in Tilapia which does not multiply fast, thus providing minimal management challenges as she learns.

Mrs Gathecha plans to go for trout which she says has a market value of between Sh450 and Sh550 per kilogram. Trout, is cheap to rear and more profitable yet local production does not meet its market demand. Kiambu District Fisheries Development Officer Mr Raphael Kasio says the Government has found it hard to keep up with the farmer's demands to engage in fish farming.

"The demand is overstretching us. It has reached a point where the programme cannot move in tandem with the farmers' demand for fish ponds," he says. He explains that the plan was for the Ministry of Fisheries Development to oversee the construction of 200 fish ponds in 140 constituencies.

Shock to us

"But it came as a shock to us when the demand averaged 1, 500 per constituency," he says. While initially the Government was planning for the project to benefit members of a registered group of at least 15 people, the reaction from farmers is such that, many of prefer individual ponds owing to the private nature of land ownership in the area.

"We do not have communal land where such groups can engage in group farming. Every farmer wants a pond in his/her own compound," he says. Further, the Fisheries Departments were caught flat-footed by the project's demand for field officers as well as facilitation.

"We had to incorporate ourselves with the Constituency Development Fund ground committees to assist us in the coordination and implementation of the project," he says. Central region Fisheries Officer Mr Anthony Kanene says the Government has been taken by surprise by this enthusiasm.

"For one, we have come to realize that we do not have adequate training facilities for the farmers. We only rely on Sagana Fisheries Station for training needs. In the entire region we need to train about 10,000 farmers at a go," he says.

But Kasio says the Government has learnt the lessons and is now ready to face the new fish farming demand in the region.

"Already, in the current financial year the Government has set aside more funds for the project. We are encouraging the farmers with the ability to establish their own ponds to go right ahead and finance their projects. We will refund them," he says.

Get certified

But this is as long as they first register their projects with their area Fisheries Department and get certified as per the laid down procedure. Further, the Government has committed itself to employing more support staff and extension officers for the project within the next three months.