Plans to revitalize the fisheries and blue economy sector through tapping the full economic potential of Lake Victoria are on course, the state has confirmed.
This is evident as the implementation of the Kabonyo Regional Fisheries and Aquaculture Service and Training Center of Excellence in Nyando Sub-County, Kisumu County, takes shape.
Addressing the press during an inspection and verification tour of the facility on Wednesday, Eliud Owalo, Deputy Chief of Staff for Performance and Delivery Management, highlighted significant progress already made on the project.
He stressed that upon completion, it will boost the blue economy value chains by supplying fingerlings in the Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB) and support the restocking of Lake Victoria.
“One of the integral components of this project is to have a production facility for fingerlings, which we can use for purposes of enhancing the production levels of fish within the lake,” Owalo stated.
The modern facility with capacity to produce 28 million fingerlings annually, he added, will significantly help in addressing the challenge of depleting stock of fish species in Lake Victoria.
Besides fingerlings production, Owalo said the facility will facilitate training, research, innovation and best practices in fisheries and aquaculture.
Construction of phase 1 at a cost of Sh1.3 billion which started in November 2024 is in progress and is currently 27% complete.
“The horizontal infrastructure, the whole network is already being worked on. A canal to block backflow of water from the lake has already been done. Administration block foundation, the laboratory, dormitory, staff quarters and other amenities is already work in progress,” he reported.
Owalo reassured that the government is committed to ensuring effective implementation of projects and programs aimed at transforming rural livelihoods as espoused under the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
“We are a bit concerned about the slow pace of the project. However, appeal has been made to the contractor to improve their performance to ensure the project is completed within the agreed-upon timeframe so that by 2027, the project should be up and running.”
The government, in addition, is currently implementing various interventions around the lake, including the establishment and operationalization of fish landing sites to provide adequate refrigeration facilities for the fisherfolk.
The Deputy Chief of Staff further assured that the 10km Korowe-Nyang’ande-Kabonyo road is under proposal to be upgraded to bitumen standards to improve accessibility to the facility.
By Robert Ojwang’
