Fish harvesting. [Photo: graduatefarmer.co.ke]
Fishing industry in Nyeri county ha been reported to be still slow in growth even after government setting up a multi-million fish processing plant there.
The main aim of setting up the plant was to boost fish production in the county. This objective has however not been met due to low production. This can only mean that the facility is not serving its purpose.
With no adequate rivers in the region, most farmers depend on small scale fish farming. This has in the recent past dropped drastically. Not even interventions from the county government has yielded fruits.
According to farmers, poor fish eating in Mount Kenya region could be one of the contributing factors towards the dismal performance of the industry.
In 2016, the county government chipped in and boosted the fishing industry by stocking fish farms around the county. They also supplied refrigerated trucks and freezers to store the produce, a project that cost the government Sh2 million.
According to Nyeri fish farming cooperative chairperson Charles Mbaoni, the efforts by the government has not so much had a positive impact on the output.
“We have also been having power issues in the factory that needs urgent intervention for us to carry out important activites,” said Mbaoni.
Kenya is not doing so well in fish consumption as compared to her East African counterparts.