Fish farming in Uasin Gishu County has received a major boost following the issuance of over 20,000 fingerlings to farmers.
The fingerlings were handed over to farmers through cooperatives in part of efforts by the county to promote fish farming and consumption of white meat among locals.
Samuel Yego, the Uasin Gishu County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Agriculture says with the issuance of the fingerlings, they want to increase fish production in the county and boost capacity for alternative sources of meat in Eldoret town, and across the county.
Speaking during the event, Yego, accompanied by Livestock Chief Officer Barnabas Too and Director of fisheries Charles Mwaniki advised farmers that have benefited from the fingerlings to take good care of them.
They noted that the fingerlings need special attention.
The Uasin Gishu County officers also asked the fish farmers to ensure their fish ponds are well protected to avoid being disrupted.
CECM Yego also warned farmers against giving food to the fingerlings without fooling proper directions from experts.
The County Government of Uasin Gishu has for the past few years been working on boosting fish production in a bid to ensure farmers produce enough for not only the local market but also outside the county.
It has been providing subsidized fingerlings to boost local fish production in the 600 fish ponds and dams across the county.
“We also have the demonstration farms in all sub-counties to enable farmers to learn new technologies,” said the Agriculture CECM.
This follows revelations that there has been a rising demand for white meat within Eldoret town, with most of the fish being from outside the county.
As of 2020, fish consumption within Uasin Gishu County stood at 82 tonnes annually, most of which was imported from neighboring countries like Uganda.
The county would later launch an initiative dubbed ‘Fish Fridays’ that brings together fish farmers and consumers to promote fish farming as an enterprise.
“We want to ensure that each individual can consume 10 kilos of fish annually. With a population of 1.2 million, we want to increase production to meet this demand and we are also encouraging the local communities to consume the white meat since it is nutritious,” Yego said during a past field day at Moiben.
