Government set to support fishing industry within the Lake Victoria basin under the Vision 2030 strategy.

By Teresia Yulu

The government has put in place a mechanism to double fish output in Lake Victoria under the Vision 2030 economic and development strategy.

Vision 2030 Director of Manufacturing that falls under the Ministry of Industrialisation Mr Francis Maliti says fisheries cluster is the way to go to achieve the target. Fishing around Lake Victoria can be better organised

He said fisheries in the region provide employment to a critical mass within Kisumu and its neighborhood and the government intends develop its capacity to double its annual turnover.

He pointed out that the fisheries cluster has an annual turnover of Sh13 billion and government would like to see this figure double, in the next two years. This would lead to the increase in direct and indirect jobs within the region creating wealth for the people.

Mr. Maliti was speaking during a fisheries cluster workshop organized by the Ministry of Industrialisation and the National Economic and Social Council in Kisumu.

The cluster workshop was aimed at training participants on the process of preparing bankable project proposals and identifying priority projects for funding.

The government he said decided to adopt the cluster development approach in addressing the challenges for enhanced productivity and competitiveness of the economy.

The cluster development initiative has become an important new direction in economic policy, building on earlier efforts in macro-economic stabilization, privatization and market liberalization, Mr Maliti said.

The cluster strategy involves the development and upgrading of related businesses that have a close geographic proximity or have virtual location through the collaboration of key actors, he added.

The major benefits of the clusters are innovation, reduced cost of doing business, increased volume of business and employment. The cluster strategy, Mr Maliti said would help actualize the goal of rapid industrialisation as spelt out in Vision 2030.

The workshop was also addressed by the director NESC in charge of private sector enablers and competitiveness Mr Patrick Ngumi who observed that limited access to appropriate technologies and the lack of critical mass of skills was a major challenge in the growth of clusters.

Mr Ngumi regretted that access to development financing for cluster organization was a challenge the government was addressing as it worked towards establishing a conducive business environment, including clear regulations, standards and quality-assurance mechanisms, as well as various incentives for manufacturing in clusters.

Among the key projects proposed for consideration in the fisheries cluster in Kisumu was fish farming in cages within the lake.

Cages are like large floating containers, made of wire or plastic meshes around a skeleton of stronger rods or pipes, and stabilized with floaters and sinkers.

Individual cages can average 5x2x1 m, and several can be joined up in series. Just like in ponds, they are stocked with fish fingerlings, which are fed and protected from predators, thieves, and environmental hazard.

He noted that whereas inland fish farming in ponds is being widely promoted in Kenya, and is doing well in several regions such as Central Province, the business is doing badly in the Lake Victoria basin - the traditional home of fish. Major limiting factors include availability of fingerlings, feeds, and water.

He pointed out that the lake basin region is prone to low rainfall distribution, and earthen fish ponds built there often dry up during dry periods.

As such, the viable alternative of farming fish in this region is to do so in the lake, using cages as was now the practice in many parts of the developed world and neighboring Uganda.

He said that construction and maintenance costs of the cages are generally lower and there was no need to own land as the lake water is public utility.

He called upon the fisheries cluster in Kisumu to embrace fish farming in cages within the lake to double their annual turnover. Fish farming in cages was an innovative technology which assured of a hundred percent returns on investment to fishermen, he said.

Ms Teresia Yulu is Head of Public Communications Ministry of Industrialisation.