In two years, the Samaki Safi self-help group has gone from receiving free pond liners, tilapia fingerlings, and free fish feed from the Kirinyaga County Government to supplying Sh 826,800 of tilapia every eight months to local fishmongers.
After applying for the Wezesha Kirinyaga Economic program in 2021, the group of 15 mostly young farmers received 1,500 fingerlings, seven months of fish feed, and 675 square metres of dam liner to cover 0.12 acres of fish pond.
“We were first introduced to the Wezesha program by a county government agricultural officer who was impressed by our three metre by two meter raised fish pond where we kept a dozen or so tilapias for subsistence,” informed the group’s chairman, 30-year-old John Karani.
Started in 2019, by Kirinyaga County Governor Anne Waiguru, The Wezesha Kirinyaga Economic Empowerment Program is meant to empower farmer groups in the poultry, aquaculture, avocado, tomato, and dairy value chains with resources, training, and financial support to expand their income-generating activities and earn each participant at least Sh1,000 in extra income daily.
So far, the program has distributed 254,000 fish fingerlings, free fish pond liners, and six months of free fish feeds to budding fish farmers.
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“I visited the Kirinyaga County agricultural offices in Kutus and was informed that to qualify for Wezesha Kirinyaga we would need to be at least a 15-member group and be registered as a community-based organisation (CBO), self-help group, or cooperative within the county,” Karani explained.
This necessitated recruiting seven other members who were sought from young people in their Kiambagathi village. With a list of the group members’ names and details as well as the minutes of their inaugural meeting, they applied to be registered as the Samaki Safi self-help group through the county’s Department of Social Development
Karani said that the process was straightforward and they were registered and got a certificate issued in just two weeks.
They then submitted a detailed fish farming business plan that included the farm’s budget, the number of beneficiaries, and ultimately their target market and how much they project to earn.
This enabled them to attain a Wezesha Kirinyaga Economic Empowerment Program application form at the county’s offices. This is filled and submitted together with supporting documents such as group registration certificates, minutes of meetings, proof of past activities, and if possible, letters of recommendation.
“Two months after our submission we hosted the Wezesha board on our farm where they verified that we had previous fish farming experience, had access to fresh water, and excavated a fish pond capable of holding the initial 1,500 fish fingerlings and that there was enough space for future expansion,” pointed out Karani.
After four months Samaki Safi and 19 other community groups were notified that they had been successful in their application. “By February of 2022 county officers had delivered everything we’d applied for (fish fingerlings, fish feed, and a pond liner),” he said.
All they had to buy was a Sh2,000 gate valve and drain pipe to regulate water in the pond.
The group staggered their first harvest of 1,127 tilapia fish in five batches through October of 2022 and sold them for Sh250 each to fishmongers in Kerugoya town 20 minutes away.
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“Fish sellers often source for fish up to two hours away in Masinga which requires an extra expense in investment in cold storage transportation,” John said.
The group reinvested almost all of the Sh 281,750 profit they made back into the business which has enabled them to increase their pond size to 0.25 acres holding 4,134 mono sex tilapia fish.
The beauty of fish farming Karani notes is unlike dairy cattle they require very little management beyond sticking to regular feeding patterns throughout the day.
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