• Kyule says farmers can reap a lot of profit when they add value to their products.
• Kyule said the products have been developed to promote fish farming as an income-generating venture and boost production.
The Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute has developed 13 new products in the fish value chain to improve farmers profit.
The Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute has developed 13 new products in the fish value chain to improve farmers profit.
The products include fish gel, fish sausages, minced fish, fish samosa, smoked fish and fish fillet. The new products will benefit farmers in Siaya, Busia, Kakamega, Lamu and Marsabit counties.
The products are being rolled out through the Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Project (KCSAP) and will be implemented by KMFRI and the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO).
KMFRI Sagana centre director Domitila Kyule said the products have been developed to promote fish farming as an income-generating venture and boost production.
She spoke in Kisumu during the training of fisheries officers from Busia county on the new products.
“You don’t throw anything in fish. You can reap a lot of profit when you add value than when you sell the fish in its raw form,” Kyule said.
She also noted that a user-friendly modern kiln has also been developed to produce high quality smoked fish that meets the various expectations of the consumer.
“The traditional kiln produces a lot of smoke which is detrimental to the health of the user,” Kyule said.
Kyula further said with the modern kiln, the farmers can now sell their products in the international market because of the quality.
Kisumu KMFRI centre director Kelvin Obiero said Kenya has a fish deficit of about 500,000 metric tonnes.
This has led to importation of fish from China to bridge the gap, in turn hurting local farmers engaged in aquaculture.
With dwindling fish stocks in Lake Victoria, he said, farm production and cage farming is the way to go.
“In Kisumu, Busia and Kakamega we are trying to implement the aquaculture value chain looking at it from a broad level from production, marketing, consumption and nutritional benefits.”
And to develop new technologies to help farmers, they have partnered with Maseno University, Egerton University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and University of Eldoret.