Discussion Paper No. 178 of 2015 on Barriers to Value Addition in "Omena" Fisheries Value Chain in Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify barriers to value addition in “Omena” fisheries value chain and to analyze omena value addition for Suba sub-county in Homa Bay County. A barrier to value addition was defined as any social, economic, cultural, innovation, legal, policy and governance issue which negatively impacts value addition in the fisheries value chain. The value chain was defined to include Omena marketing channels in the main towns in Nyanza and Western regions and Nakuru, Nairobi and Mombasa cities, among others. A value chain analytical perspective was adopted for the study. Qualitative expert interviews with key informants and secondary data were used to address the research objectives. Socio-economic, institutional, and fishery production and marketing data were obtained for analysis. The barriers to value addition in Omena value chain include: lack of market information, poor processing technology, poor business skills, lack of legal and policy framework for Omena processing, lack of access to land, poor infrastructure development, as well as lack of technical specifications for processing and marketing of Omena. The productivity of the Omena value chain was greatest for wholesalers and animal feed processors compared to small scale processors and retailers. Policy and legal framework for land use at beaches and standards for processing dry Omena should be developed by stakeholders to facilitate infrastructure development at beaches and processing of Omena for quality achievement. Technical specifications for processing, transporting, distributing and marketing the product should be developed and agreed upon to ensure high product quality and food safety.