Fishery value chain analysis, Background report – Kenya

Abstract

This is a country report that provides a fisheries sub-sector review and fishing activities, processing, trade and export as a basis for selecting suitable species for Value Chain Analysis at national level for Kenya. The report provides a background on the development and status of both capture fisheries and aquaculture that have both grown from subsistence level in the 1930s to 1950s to some viable commercial ventures, the regulatory frameworks that have existed in the sub-sector and the development by both government and the private sector in the industry. The report highlights various institutions and organizations that have taken a leading role in fisheries activities in Kenya such as WWF, LVEMP, LVFO, CORDIO, KESCOM among others. Deliberate efforts to stimulate the growth of aquaculture are highlighted in the report. The report further presents and provides insight into the types of fisheries data available in Kenya, official custodians, format and availability to the public. In this respect, secondary data, survey data, published data and primary datasets have been identified for purposes of case studies in Fish Value Chain in Kenya in both freshwater and marine environments. From these various datasets, information on fish production in Lake Victoria and other inland water bodies has been highlighted. The report further analyses the existing fish production technologies in Kenya, the characteristics of the fishers and some socio-economic issues that are relevant to Fish Value Chain Analysis. Similarly, information on fish production in the marine environment has also been covered, including the EEZ and existing potential. The processing sector development has been traced from the early artisanal methods in the 1950s to ultra-modern fish processing plants and conversion of fish based raw materials into animal feeds. The report relates the industrial and semi-industrial processing to the processes, stages and entrepreneurial establishments in the inputs, harvesting, processing and marketing activities for both domestic and export markets; trends in fish production and utilization points to conversion from basic artisanal to commercial fisheries in both marine and freshwater systems in the 1960s. Though the fish transport system is poorly developed, the industrial based processing outfit has a well organized transport system with provision of both refrigerated trucks and provision of ice. A number of regulatory frameworks govern fisheries activities in Kenya mainly under the Fisheries Act Cap 378 but there are other legal notices and instruments that are applicable to the sub-sector such as the Subsidiary Regulations, Beach Management Regulations, Fish Quality Regulations and Fisheries Management Plans (recently). The sub-sector is also undergoing several reforms in line with national, regional and international demand to create Competent Authority in various aspects of National Fisheries. Whereas Kenya Fish targets both international and domestic market, a large proportion of fish production is locally consumed. The challenges encountered in the fishery include inadequate information and data on various aspects of the fishery and non-centralized fisheries databases that make decision-making process tedious and lengthy. Based on the available information, the report proposes the study of the following species Lates niloticus (Nile Perch), Rastrineobola argentea (Dagaa), Oreochromis niloticus (Nile tilapia) and Panilurus sp. (Lobsars).