- Strategy will help optimally exploit the untapped marine resources along the Coast and inland waters.
- Dejen said the blue economy concept is still a relatively new idea thus is widely still not understood.
Image: BRIAN OTIENO
Kenya has a deficit of 314,000 metric tonnes of fish despite being blessed with huge natural water bodies.
According to the Agriculture ministry, Kenya’s potential in fisheries and aquaculture is 450,000 metric tonnes annually but only produces about 150,128 on average.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development is drawing up a blue economy strategy to enable the country to tackle the challenges that prevent Kenya from achieving its potential.
Igad programme manager for environment and coordinator of the blue economy Eahete Dejen on Friday said Kenya is way ahead in developing its blue economy strategy, which will help the country optimally exploit the untapped marine resources along the Coast and inland waters.
Last Wednesday, policy drivers in the maritime sector begun the process of identifying different sectors of the blue economy in a bid to assess each sector's contribution.
Dejen said the blue economy concept is still a relatively new idea thus is widely still not understood.
So far, data has been generated on the contribution of different sectors, including maritime tourism, fisheries and aquaculture, maritime transport, the Coast guards, among others, to the economy.
However, this data is yet to be validated. “We are trying to do an assessment on the data we have generated. Based on that assessment, we will now develop the national blue economy strategy,” Dejen said.
This will be done for all the seven Igad member states. Kenya’s will be the second after Djibouti’s. Next will be Somalia’s.
Dejen said since the blue economy concept is still new, it needs a lot of sensitization and awareness creation.
The validation workshop, which took place at the Whitesands Hotel from Wednesday to Friday, was facilitated by Igad with support from the Swedish government.
Igad has a three-year project to strengthen the blue economy in Kenya and other Igad member states including Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.
Dejen said so far the different sectors in the blue economy remain largely uncoordinated because of lack of structural arrangement.
“There is no institutional arrangement thus no actual governance as to who should lead the blue sector because it is a new sector.
“For example, in Kenya it is under the Agriculture ministry. When you go to Somalia, it is under the President’s Office,” Dejen said.
Also, because it is relatively new, there is some misunderstanding about what it is and what it entails.
“Where does the blue economy begin and where does it stop?” said Dejen.
In terms of manpower, the blue economy suffers because there are few people trained in a multidisciplinary way, according to Dejen.
Because it is made up of different sectors, people who are specialised in different sectors are forced to come together and develop strategies.
This means there will be push and pull because everyone wants to impose their way on others.
“People are not trained to think in a multi-sectoral way that the blue economy requires,” Dejen said.
In the next three years, Igad seeks to strengthen support to the member states, especially four coastal countries of Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia and Sudan, to develop their own national blue economy strategies.
The project objectives are to establish a functional blue economy structure at Igad to cater for regional and national needs.
The project will also assess the impact of pollution and develop mitigation measures on aquatic biodiversity and ecosystems, and to increase research.
Eahete said the four states will do collaborative approaches with Seychelles and Mauritius, Norway and Sweden, which have all advanced in blue economy initiatives.
Joyce Awino, director the Kenya Coast Guard Service, said Kenya’s blue economy has a potential to contribute to faster growth of the country's GDP.
“Innovation and growth in the coastal, marine and maritime sector could deliver food, energy, transport, among other products and services," she said.
"Diversifying the country’s economy beyond land based activities and along its coastal, marine and maritime sector is therefore critical," said Awino.
Awino said Kenya has made diverse strides in development of its blue economy to achieve strong and sustainable economic growth.
"Kenya is also diversifying her sources of growth by prioritising the blue economy," she said.
Edited by Henry Makori