Develop technologies for improving productivity of aquaculture
The aquaculture annual production in Kenya had stagnated at around 1,000 tonnes but through consistent on-farm research, capacity building of farmers and the economic stimulus efforts the production has grown to 1,500 tonnes by 2015. The department of Fisheries is promoting aquaculture as means to eradicate poverty and hope to increase the annual production to about 12,000 tonnes in the next three years. Farmed fish has become important in the recent past few years and aquaculture has become a source of healthy animal protein in many parts of Kenya. It has spread to parts of the Rift valley, Central and Eastern provinces which were not fish producing areas. Small-scale commercial fish farmers earning KES 450,000 per acre of water surface have mushroomed in different parts of the country. Despite this growth this sub-sector has been constrained by the availability of quality and high cost of feeds and lack of quality fingerings. We propose to work in collaboration with the Maseno University, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KEMFRI as a coapplicant will undertake the entire aquaculture activities in this Action through a direct award. ), and Department of Fisheries in the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation to develop and commercialize high quality fish feed and work out a system to supply quality fingerings to farmers. Focus will be on
- Containing pollution and complying with food safety/SPS requirements
- Breeding to increase supply of quality fingerlings.
- Fish nutrition and low cost feed formulation