Naya Tilapia Cage Fish Farming Project

The local populations living along and around the Lake Victoria together with other population segments in and outside Kenya regard tilapia fish as an important delicacy.

In the last three decades overfishing, pollution, poor fishing methods and poison fishing have combined to reduce the population of tilapia fish in the Lake Victoria, Kenya. 

This loss of tilapia fish species has led to widespread unemployment, loss of regular income, increased poverty, hunger, foodshortages, I'll health, malnutrition and deprivation among major population segments particularly children, youth, women, men, persons with disability and the elderly. 

The loss of food, trade, employment and engagement has seen a rise in child labour, crime, commercial sex, violence/ gender based violence, drugs and alcohol abuse.

Our innovation and adoption of cage fish farming creates a unique, sound, appropriate and fresh opportunity for replenishing tilapia fish and providing household food, income, employment and alternative technology for reversing scarcity.

Our innovation and solution targets to reverse over fishing, fish species depletion, food shortage, loss of income,  increasing levels of malnutrition, high unemployment rates, low income and deepening poverty standards using appropriate technologies effectively tried and tested.

Over 10 million people living in the Western, Nyanza, Nairobi and Coastal regions of Kenya who regard tilapia fish as a main delicacy are affected by this situation.

Over 4 million fisherfolk, fish ongers, processes, transporters and small holder farmers are rendered jobless with a majority household heads rendered helpless.

Overfishing, pollution, poor fishing gears and poison fishing on much of the Lake Victoria in Kenya lead to the present reduction and scarcity of tilapia fish species.

Cage fish farming introduces sound fish farming, tailor made to match markets and produced in demarcated, metallic cages, high quality fingerlings stocking,  controlled feeding, protected, secured, seasonal harvesting, processing, local area and external area sales and marketing opportunities to employ locals, engage women, youth, persons with disability and bring food, income and new technology to local small holder fisherfolk and farmers.

This technology adoption also allows the inclusion of technical and extension expert teams from KEFRI, LABDA and the Fisheries department in farmer support.

Our solution is a metallic fish cage designed to replenish, restock, hold and manage our fish for food, income, employment and improved environmental/eco-system  management as accruing benefits to the the farmer and wider local population. 

Our solution replaces fishing as it has been done on the Lake Victoria Kenya for centuries that has led to overfishing and species depletion.

Fish cage farming creates a seasonal pool of farm family owned fish for food, source of much needed extra income and surplus employment opportunities both for family and other employees.

The metallic fish cage is a controlled fish farming initiative enabling individual farmers to own and manage the rearing of predetermined quantities of fish fingerlings by providing supplementary feeding, offering round the clock security and ensuring timely harvesting before restocking  for the next market sales.

Fish cage farming further offers opportunities for technology transfer to families particularly youth, women, persons with disability and persons living with HIV/AIDs.

It provides and exposes the beneficiaries to skills in fish handling, breeding, feeding, security, harvesting, processing, record keeping, sales and marketing.

Finally it injects the love, agility and creativity of the female gender into the exclusive fishing sector traditionally exclusive to the local males.

This initiative targets smallholder fish farmers, fisherfolk, women, men, youth, persons with disability, persons living with HIV/AIDs, comprising of smallholder farmers, fisherfolk also grandmother caregivers, youth, women, widows, mothers, orphans and small business operators, food processors,  transporters and families living and working along and around the Lake Victoria in Madiany Division, Rarieda Sub County, Siaya County, Kenya.

This group the Uyoma Food Security Self Help Group is involved in sensitizing, mobilizing, informing, educating and communicating the benefits and responsibilities that come to individuals, families and groups choosing cage fish farming under this initiative!

We are holding household dialogues, youth and women specific meetings, discussions with leaders of persons living with disability and even HIV/AIDs.

We are meeting local opinion, administrative and political leaders and pushing the idea of a paradigm shift from net fishing, poison fishing, spear fishing and hook fishing to cage fish farming for fisherfolk and smallholder farmers.

We have sponsored and facilitated up to 3 exposure tours to three different community sites and 2 private sector operators sites.

The program team is spending the corona virus lockdown and spiking period out of the city headquarters and live in village cottages not yet reached by the virus though affected by corona to concentrate on developing this initiative.

Three unique engagement vehicles have been evolved in the quest to make this initiative worthwhile for smallholder farmers and fisherfolk.

These comprise of the following;-

Women Leadership Elections.

Women Leadership Development program mainstreaming women, women with disability, mothers, grandmothers and small business owners has been initiated with women leaders assisted to open, operate and be the sole signatories of the bank account.

Introduction Entrepreneurship 

 A group business development support program mentoring local women investors on fish farming,  entrepreneurship, record keeping, business,  food handling, food processing, food sales and marketing.

Women Banking-4- Food Security Savings, Investment and Credit initiative that has registered some 100 women as investors and encouraged small contributions to support fish cage fabrication with the sum of $250 already raised. Each investor has a passbook to represent their shareholding.

Women Enterprise and Development volunteer advisors have been retained to support community outreach, extension and training.

A motorized boat has been acquired and is being used by the program team to approach and visit inland coastal village populations in a campaign for this venture.

The program has identified and engages public sector gatekeepers as the become inistry of Fisheries, 

The Lake Victoria is the most dominant and influential feature in the livelihoods of local people who depend on its resources for fish, drinking water, bathing water, domestic and commercial water supplies also livestock feed, livestock watering, building poles, sports, transport and employment. 

This initiative fits in this Eco-system challenge as it encourages hundreds of ordinary people, small holders and small business operators whose livelihoods depend on the Lake Victoria to join hands and participate in conservation farming of fish, eliminate socially unacceptable, environmentally degrading, economically unsustainable practices in the Lake Victoria Basin of Kenya.

The first lot of fish farming cages have been developed, deployed and in use in various beaches, villages and urban coastal units within and around the Lake Victoria shores of, Kenya.

 These include; Dunga, Kaloka, Luanda Kootieno, Midori, Homa Bay, Mbita and Sori all  spread in Kisumu, Siaya, Migori and Homa Bay Counties making this an already tried and tested instrument.

It is presently operated by a small, resourceful clique of political and influential number of wealthy businessmen, bureaucrats and political leaders from around this  region and placed right next to smallholder village farms and fisherfolk fishing grounds.

This solution is important to its promotion of fish farming that can be expanded to match both a growing population and an expanding market segment rather than fishing that depletes fish species as it expands to cover fish underlings and breeding grounds!

This solution is also an inclusive instrument enabling youth and women to be in entrepreneurship safely  rather than fishing a traditional and exclusive club of men in traditional societies as ours.

Finally this solution enables all members of the society particularlyin women to join a rare income generation and employment  opportunity emerging in the fast shrinking economy presently most affected by COVID 19.

We presently serve 150 persons a selection of group members mainly youth, women, persons living with disabilities, persons living with HIV/ AIDs.

This initiative is intended to serve some 500 fish farmers over the next 1 year mostly engaged as farmers, feeders and security assistants.

It is estimated that in 5 years 2,500 fish farmers will be included as beneficiaries of the project across the project area.

Overall some 250,000 beneficiaries will depend on fish for food, nutrition, income, employment and technology transfer within this region.

This solution will directly affect some 2,000,000 people depending on fish for food, income and employment around and within the Lake Victoria Basin of Kenya.

We are using the following indicators to measure progress.

No ofcages fabricated.

No. of windmills installed.

No. of fingerlings in cages installed.

No of people engaged and involved.

No of families benefiting.

No. of fish harvested.

Volume of fish harvested.

Volume of fish bone meal developed.

No of local unskilled labour learning essential skills for self or formal employment.

Amount of income generated.

We have a team of 50 persons.

The permanent staff of regulars is 15 staff; 5 temporary staff and 4 contractors and 26 associates participating as fish market women contributing to our "women banking 4 environment and food security program by contributing small funds ranging from $1 each.

We have negotiated and acquired about 1 km of shoreline fish farming land, some 5 acres of prime inland coastal land, some 5 high quality cage nets and metals for constructing 1 giant cage of 10x10m squared.

We have further completed the initial community sensitization, mobilization, information, education and communication process.

We have engaged the office of the Governor of Siaya County and the Departments of Agriculture and Fisheries in the same Government.

We have organised two bank accounts to serve donor funding and community contribution respectively at Stanbic bank and Equity Bank (K) Ltd respectively.

We are engaging in this as a full-time preoccupation.

We are working with local group's to learn more about existing management practices.

We are engaging in this work on a full time basis and operate a full fledged resource center on the ground at Gudwa Beach from our point of operations in Kisumu City.

We are bringing diversity, equitable and inclusive structures by seeking contributions in cash, skills, land, time and unskilled labour from all segments of our local population and valuing every single"donation" as a share capital. Today we have grandmothers, mothers, single mothers, widows, youth, fishermen, farmers, boat hands and landowners as stakeholders.

Presently our leadership team comprise of a chairperson (woman) also grandmother caregiver living with orphans who is deputized by a youth (male) with disability.

The group secretary (woman) is a professional teacher with a (male) youth as assistant secretary and a treasurer being a mother home maker (woman).

The group organizer is a (woman) living with disability and a male chief executive officer (man) and a professional mother as deputy chief of party at the secretariat.

Solve offers a unique opportunity for profile raising, mentorship and market outreach through exposure.

We also see MIT as a global training and development platform that could act as our future partners in stakeholder mentorship and training.

We would also not mind raising some funds for our project through the initiative if it becomes possible since funding is a paramount requiment in our growth path.

We are keen to transform the work ethic, beliefs and styles of idle, unskilled and unemployed local youth whom we are bringing on board; we strongly need influential mentors to guide in this.

International markets require certain production, processing, packaging and value addition standards! We need advise and mentorship on these processes.

Involvement and engagement of whole segments of local populations in ownership demands a highly integrated legal ownership definition that ensures justice to founder board owners, skilled contributors, land owners and unskilled labour along side "women banker contributors".

Yes. Technology transfer involves the use of computers, softwares and hardwares to install security, management, processes, sales and marketing systems.

Regional product delivery demands high level logistics for perishable food and related products calling for support and insight.

We are keen to work with the following;-

USADF 

MIT /Solve Team

IFC/World Bank

IFAD  International Fund for Agricultural Development.

AFB African Development Bank 

UNCTAD United Nations Center for Trade and Development.

We are extremely touched by two distinct events in the African refugee sector.

1. Right across our international borders the people of Burundi continue to face genocidal level of threats to their lives and we see them repatriated back to dangerous political environment in their country by our courts each time. If the solve team could get a few over for legalised work support through this funding we could accommodate  them and work together in this project while peace returns to their country so long as no criminal records, women and youth are involved.

Secondly, we are disheartened to see tv pictures of Africans trying to go for a better life in Europe through shark infested and dangerous accident prone waters off the Mediterranean sea and wonder why they find it necessary to do that with abandunt opportunity in African farmlands. We can work with a few young trainees who should undertake to reallocate back with financial aid and technical skills after a stint of service if peace withholds at specific home countries.

In the last decade we have supported 2 local schools with agriculture and nutrition development as we offer tissue culture bananas and plastic roof water catchment tanks for sanitation and hygiene.

Cage fish farming is replacing environmentally unsafe fishing systems with species conservation, food and nutrition security for rural families living in the Lake Victoria Basin of Kenya to create food secure and nutrition accessing adolescents.

Moreover schools are core target markets for our school feeding program.

Our group considers itself as a women owned, women led initiative bearing in mind 90% leaders and members being women.

We are also promoting maternal child health and family planning in 50 villages along the Lake Victoria Basin of Kenya under the " South Uyoma Maternal Child Health and Family Planning Program.

Our innovation is dealing with research developed fingerlings which are farmed for food and products development to reduce and eliminate the pressure on inland fishing grounds and species decimation.

Yes, since our group is encouraging stakeholders in the cage fish farming initiative particularly women  to spearhead the groups tree nurseries development for its flagship project the Naya Hills Eco-system Conservation Project for planting 2000000 trees and reduce pressure on the timber, quarry mining, poles and building grass presently harvested from Naya Hills.

Cage fish farming is sustainable and inclusive due to its resources base development of the fish fingerlings for specific target markets.