- Basket One Consulting and Advisory Limited team leader Susan Sagina on Friday said women have largely been left behind in the area of blue economy.
- She said the feasibility report will go a long way to helping develop a Women Economic Empowerment Strategy that will be used to empower women.
Image: JOHN CHESOLI
More women from the six coastal counties are expected to be trained to better exploit opportunities in blue economy.
This is after the validation of a feasibility study that delved into the needs of women from Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale, Taita Taveta, Tana River and Lamu counties in the blue economy.
The study, undertaken by the Basket One Consulting and Advisory Limited, revealed that there is need to better equip women with more skills needed to better exploit available opportunities in the sector.
Basket One Consulting and Advisory Limited team leader Susan Sagina on Friday said women have largely been left behind in the area of blue economy.
She said the feasibility report will go a long way to helping develop a Women Economic Empowerment Strategy that will be used to empower women, especially in the aquaculture, maritime transport and logistics sector.
“This strategy will help improve skills of women involved in that space so as to be able to exploit more this area of interest and in the process earn more from it,” Sagina said.
She spoke at the City Blue Hotel in Mombasa during the validation of the study.
Some 40 women from each of the six coastal counties will be taken through training workshops in aquaculture, maritime transport and logistics.
From these, a final 40 women will then be identified and be enrolled in identified vocational training centres in all the six counties so as to be taken through specific courses for a period of six months or more, depending on the specific course.
“These final 40 will be selected based on a certain criteria that we have. This means there will be maybe nine from Mombasa, six from Kwale, eight from Lamu, five from Taita Taveta and so fourth till they make the 40 that we are going to sponsor for courses,” a Basket One Consulting and Advisory Limited official told the Star.
German Development Corporation technical adviser for TVET and enterprise development Brenda Kibiku said the needs assessment report will give counties pointers to what the coastal women need so as to be economically empowered in the Blue Economy space.
This, she said, will then help the counties integrate those needs in their development plans.
“Ours at GIZ is to offer the technical support that the women would need us to in the Go Blue project,” Kibiku said.
The Go Blue project is co-financed by the European Union and the German government to the tune of 7.9 million euros (about Sh1.2 billion).
Mombasa county Blue Economy executive Kibibi Abdalla said the sector has the potential to inject $4.8 billion (approximately Sh677.5 billion) into the Kenyan economy and create 52,000 jobs in the next decade.
“We have identified the Mtongwe Vocational Training Centre to provide an alternative centre to offer maritime courses. This will augment what Bandari Maritime Academy offers,” she said.
Taita Taveta county executive for Education and TVETs Gloria Wawuda Mwinyikombo said although they do not enjoy the ocean in their county, they have lakes Jipe and Chala, and several rivers that can be better exploited to help women gainfully.
“We also have the vocational training centres, where our women are going to be trained on aquaculture, maritime transport and logistics and we are grateful for that,” she said.
Mombasa Woman Representative Zamzam Mohamed said many people are now better informed about the blue economy and are actively trying to exploit the opportunities available thanks to sensitisation campaigns led by Basket One Consulting and Advisory Limited.
“Earlier, we had the ocean but had been largely left out of its exploitation,” Mohamed said.
She said the Dongo Kundu project is best placed to anchor all the blue economy initiatives that are to be implemented but its delay in completion means Mombasa is already lagging behind in terms of tapping into the blue economy space.
Mohammed said the Kenyan government is dragging its feet in the development of the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone.
“We have got aid from the South Korean government who have proposed that they donate 80 per cent of the total cost of development and Kenya only covers the 20 per cent.
“But to date, the Kenyan government, in their budget, has only set aside one per cent instead of the 20 per cent. One per cent cannot complete this project,” she said.
The legislator called on President William Ruto to delve into the matter and ensure it is fast tracked.
“We have investors ready to inject billions of shillings into this SEZ. We should not miss out in these,” she said.
Mohammed urged women to take advantage of the opportunities that have presented themselves in the blue economy space to empower themselves.
Kifwa secretary general Andrew Ochieng said courses related to the blue economy are too expensive at the Bandari Maritime Academy and discourages enrolment, especially for the poor.
Most learners depend on sponsors to pay the fees for them and this means most people with interest cannot afford to pay the fees.
“Today, without papers, it is difficult to get jobs,” he said.
The secretary general said women are now getting more into the blue economy space than before because of technology as opposed to the past where brute strength was used more in that field if blue economy.
“Those involved should encourage more women to join this space. And this should be done at earlier stages of learning like in primary schools,” Ochieng said.
Image: JOHN CHESOLI