| dc.description.abstract | Fish is very important for food and nutrition security throughout the world.
However, fish stocks from the natural sources in Kenya have been declining,
making fish farming the only viable option to supplement fish supply. This
paper examines the efficiency of the Government intervention in fish farming
through the Economic Stimulus Programme. It assesses the efficiency with which
the constituencies (grouped into counties) used the allocated resources for fish
production. Results show a mean average efficiency of 65 per cent in 38 counties.
Counties near large water bodies were relatively less efficient, contrary to the
major water source criteria used for the fish farming intervention. Further, only
89 per cent of the fish ponds were observed, an indication that there could have
been ponds that were constructed and abandoned or were never constructed
at all. Only 49 per cent of the targeted fish production level was achieved. The
optimal fish production expected from the 48,000 fish ponds that were to be
constructed under the programme was 31,680 tonnes annually. However, in
2014, the total quantity produced from fish farming was 24,096 tonnes. Based
on the findings, fingerling production hatcheries need to be implemented in the
counties without any public or private hatcheries. Kenya can further borrow
from Egypt and Nigeria, the leading fish farming producers in Africa, an
approach which is both an intervention by the Government and a market-led
approach to increase fish production and provide an incentive for fish farmers
to produce for the market. | en |
