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Kenya and Indonesia to partner in fish farming
Ouma Wanzala
Kenya and Indonesia are set to enter into a partnership in the development of fish farming in the country.
Fisheries Minister Paul Otuoma said on Thursday that his ministry and the Indonesian Fish Ministry would sign a memorandum of understanding to guide the collaboration.
Dr Otuoma added that the two counties would also collaborate in terms of improving the capacity of the human resource in the fisheries sector.
The minister said that his ministry would introduce a super YY fish species from Indonesia in order to improve fish productivity.
“The co-operation between the fisheries ministries in the two countries will see the introduction of new fish seedlings, improved feeds for fish and distribution systems will be enhanced,” the minister said.
He however, said that the species that will be introduced is not genetically modified.
The minister was speaking at Wakhungu fish farming centre in Samia where Indonesia Assistant minister for fisheries Dr Mabel Nurdjana was visiting accompanied by aquaculture specialists.
Dr Otuoma said that utilisation of Sh1.1billion under fish framing enterprise productivity programme was set to kick off early next month.
He said that the first group to be trained would be district fisheries officers so that they can train identified fish farmers who will benefit from the programme.
The minister said that the programme will see the construction of 200 fish ponds in 140 constituencies that have been identified and will see introduction of new farming technology that will support rural economic development.
“We are calling on Kenyans to seize the opportunity and engage in fish farming,” Dr Otuoma said.
The Indonesian delegation led by Dr Nurdjana assured the Kenyan government that his country was ready to assist the country improve fish production.
“We have expertise in fish farming sector that we will sharing information with Kenyan experts with the sole purpose of improving aquaculture in Kenya,” Dr Nurdjana said.
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