By James Odhiambo

Fisherman Wilson Baya has tripled his income to Sh5,000 to Sh6,000 a day thanks to the new government cold storage facility in Kinondo, Kwale, that opened in March 2025.

“My living standards have improved a lot since I can now sell the catch at competitive market prices, far above the Sh2000 a day I was getting before the cold store opened,” he said.

The Sh252 million fish landing site, built under the Kenya Marine Fisheries Socio-Economic Development (KEMFSED) project with World Bank support, has brought industrial-scale cold chain access to small-scale coastal fishers for the first time. The facility includes ice-making equipment, walk-in cold storage, and cleaning equipment that preserve the quality of fish making it possible to transport it much further and to bigger markets.

“We used to sell the fish at throw-away prices of even Sh100 a kilo, but now we can sell it at up to Sh500 a kilo depending on the demand for the fish type,” said Wilson.

The cold storage is meaning fishers can bypass local brokers and access urban markets where demand and prices are higher.

“The prices are at a range of Sh350 to Sh500, especially from Nairobi and Mombasa, as the fish is fresh and the handling is of great concern when it comes to the fish quality,” said Wilson. “Fish like snapper, tuna and grouper are highly competitive as market demand is very high for this type of fish.”

Wilson is part of a self-help group of fishers, which gives him priority access to the storage facility. Once the fish is landed, it is loaded into crates, weighed, labeled, and moved into cold storage.

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“To use the facility you have to be registered either individually or as a cooperative through the operations manager of the facility,” he said. “Everyone is allowed to register individually, but cooperatives have greater opportunities compared to individual registrations as they are given first priority in using the cold s

Being in a self-help group has also opened up market connections for Wilson. With support from the facility management and KEMFSED officers, many of the orders from city buyers are negotiated on behalf of the fishers.

“It doesn’t offer only storage but also networking,” said Wildon. “We also get contacts from interested buyers like hotels, resorts, and individual fishmongers.”

KEMFSED has also provided training on post-harvest handling and fish hygiene.

“KEMFSED has been the cornerstone of help in this project, as it does not only give a voice for the fishermen but also offers voluntary training to us on how to handle fish direct from the ocean and boats to the market, maintaining the quality of the harvest.”

“The problem sometime is power outage and skepticism of some fishermen about joining cooperatives, but we have worked through KEMFSED and the county government in set up power backup using solar power to reduce this. And the KEMFSED has offered training on the importance of coming together as fishermen,” said Wilson.

“The result is that I can now support my family without having to worry since the earnings are good enough to manage,” he said. “I’m definitely going to continue eyeing the benefits of this cold storage.”

“We have always had the fish, but now we have a way to keep it fresh, sell it far, and earn something meaningful from it,” he said. “The sea hasn’t changed. But we have, and that makes all the difference.”