Fish for sex (Jaboya) will be a thing of the past in Homa Bay after women are trained on fish cage farming.
Already 100 Suba North and Suba South constituencies women are being trained by non-governmental organisation Eco-Network Africa.
It is expected that the training will reduce the spread of HIV-Aids after sex for fish is curtailed.
Eco-Network Africa general manager for operations and development Makena Mworia said the trained women will start putting their cages in Lake Victoria in two weeks' time.
Mworia said the exchange of fish for sex among fishmongers contributed to the spread of HIV and Aids.
She was optimistic that women will be economically empowered after the training. “The women will have their catch and reduce dependency on those who want sex in order to give fish.”
Homa Bay is among counties with high HIV-Aids prevalence in Kenya at 20.7 per cent.
Mworia, who spoke in Homa Bay town, said her organisation will provide the women with a revolving loan with affordable interest rates.
“I know fish cage farming is very expensive and requires a lot of money for a farmer to operate it effectively. We will give the women a revolving loan to enable them to participate effectively in the venture,” she said.
Mworia, who was accompanied by Homa Bay County director of Nema John Maniafu and the county director of Fisheries George Okoth, said the project targets women because only a handful of them participate in fish cage farming.
Okoth said they will ensure there is no conflict with fishermen at beaches. “Public participation has been done to ensure harmony between fishermen and the project implementer.”
Maniafu said his office will ensure that the project does not pollute the lake through the introduction of cages which are unfriendly to the environment.
“There are metallic cages which are painted with lead which is harmful to the environment. We will offer technical support to ensure the project is done in a manner friendly to the environment,” he said.
