New Small Fish Projects initiated in Kenya and Tanzania
The multi-disciplinary SmallFish4Food and SmallFishClim projects team initiated Lake Victoria research activities and collaboration to study the role of small fish trade for food security and nutrition.
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Two recently funded projects, SmallFish4Food and SmallFishClim, together analyze aspects of fish trade like value chains, mass balance, nutrition, different segments of the network, climate change, and markets.
To launch the project, the team members Ragnhild Overå (Geography), Jeppe Kolding (Biology), Marian Kjellevold (Marine Research Institute) and Matthew Pflaum (Geography) traveled to Kenya and Tanzania for a series of workshops and meetings with local partners and stakeholders.
Small fish are increasingly promoted as a high-quality source of nutritious food because they are relatively sustainable, accessible, and rich in protein, micronutrients and fatty acids. While small fish have been consumed for centuries by many local communities globally, recent shifts in policies, climate, markets, preferences and diets have all threatened the consumption of small fish. In East Africa, fish remains a critical component of the local diet, with most households in Kenya (75%), Tanzania and Rwanda (87%), and Uganda (85%) consuming fish regularly (Ipsos Limited, 2018).
Climate, production dynamics, and environmental factors have all contributed to fluctuations in fish availability. Despite public concerns over overfishing, small fish catches have been increasing in Lake Victoria, one of the major field sites for the two projects. However, there are inevitably important socio-economic and environmental processes that generate persistent tensions like competition for the best fish, labor issues, wage concerns, quality issues related to storage and handling, and environmental impacts. Meanwhile, the emergence of a significant aquaculture industry in tilapia has created competition for small fish like the Lake Victoria sardine (in the local parlance omena in Kenya and dagaa in Tanzania), which is used as a component in fish meal production for fish farms and animal feed and threatens to reduce availability for consumers.
These complexities were observed and discussed during the first week in Kisumu, Kenya, during visits to fish farms, fish processing sites, beach landings, markets, and the Kenya Marine Research Institute, or KMFRI, one of the project’s principal local partners in Kenya. One of the highlights of the trip was visiting aquaculture farms managed and owned by a group of young locals in Kisumu, who explained the source of fish meal and fish oil, investment, management of the farms, selling the fish, and the process of growing the fish from fingerlings to maturity when they are ready for sales at the markets and beyond.
A group of young locals in Kisumu explain managing a fish farm.
Fish is undoubtedly a dynamic and thriving industry, yet there are many important aspects that warrant further clarification and scrutiny. Issues affecting the trade like pollution, hygiene, transportation, storage, equipment and technology, wages, and competition between actors were all discussed through informal conversations with people at the sites, and in more formal dialogue with local partners through workshops. Research has indicated that two major concerns by producers and consumers in the East Africa region are handling and hygiene of fish and post-harvest losses.
Ragnhild Overå probes a local market vendor as she examines dried, fried, and smoked fish at a local market in Kisumu.
After Kisumu, the group visited Arusha to launch a workshop on the new projects with scholars and experts from institutions such as KMFRI, Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation (LVFO), the University of Dar es Salaam, and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). In Arusha, the team strategized data collection, methodologies, field site selection, and coordination. Local partners were instrumental in filling knowledge gaps. Hopefully, through intensive research over the next three years, the complex questions related to fish trade and nutritional security can be clarified.
References:
Ipsos Limited. (2018). EAST AFRICA FISH MARKET ASSESSMENT Size, Sustainability and Opportunities for growth in Aquaculture: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda STUDY REPORT.
