ORGANIC FETRLIZERS FOR FISH FARMING IN SIAYA COUNTY, KENYA.
STUDENT NUMBER: w1662117
FACULTY: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
MODULE NAME: GLOBAL CHALLENGES IN FOOD AND HEALTH
MODULE CODE: 7HMNT016W.2
MODULE LEADER: ALIZON K DRAPER
DATE OF SUBMISSION: 30TH APRIL 2018
CONCEPT NOTE
PROJECT TITLE ORGANIC FERTILIZERS FOR FISH FARMING
PROJECT BACKGROUND.
Fish farming in Kenya was established in the earl 1920’s as a livelihood means of supplementing protein in the diets of people living in the rural areas. Over time the industry has grown and has become a great source of income for most of the individuals. The farmers either do it on small scale or large scale which helps to improve the total economy and meet the nutrient requirements in Kenya (Kenya Manual for Fish Farming, 2007). Fish farming practices in Kenya is mostly described as intensive, semi-intensive and extensive systems. Semi-intensive systems form bulk of aquaculture production in Kenya. The tilapia, African cat fish and rainbow trout are mainly the fish that are farmed (FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture, 2015).
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Globally, there are various controversial issues in aquaculture regarding food safety, nutrition and sustainability but most of it is related to nutrition and feeds for the fish that are farmed. According to Food and Agricultural Organization, (FA0) the prices of fish feeds has increased globally from 2000-2008 from US$ 500 to 1200 due to the high costs of ingredient for the fish feed especially the compound feeds. This leads to decline in the importation of feeds by the local suppliers. The Trade Group of Marine Ingredient Manufactures evaluated the fish feeds and found out that 42% of the world’s total fish feed meet the required standards. (Science for all, 2014). This signifies that the local fish market is heavily exploited by the producers of fish feeds thus the increase the price. The transportation of the fish feed as well is quite expensive which has led to an increase between 20-90% of the fish feed prices (FAO, 2009). In Sub Saharan Africa, the prices in fish feed are relatively high due to production and transportation cost. (FA0, 2009).
In Kenya, most of the semi-intensive and intensive aquaculture systems, fish feeds account for 40-50% of the total variable production of cost on the fish. (Journal for fisheries and aquatic sciences, 2014). When fish farming started in Kenya, most of the feeds comprised of agricultural by-products such as cereal bran. The single ingredients from the brans are deficient of micro and macro nutrients while some of the brans still have high content of crude fibre which reduces the digestibility and palatability by the fish leading to low yields (Kenya Manual for Fish Farming, 2007). Commercial feeds on the other hand contain 24-28% of protein which is essential for the fish but expensive. Over the years, the performance of aquaculture has dimmed down due to the lack of efficient and inexpensive farm made and commercial feeds for the different staged of fish development is a major challenge. This has resulted to stagnation of fish farming leading to household food in some households (Greener Journal for Agricultural Sciences, 2012). Other than feeds being expensive, farmers do not know how to provide the fish with feeds to meet their nutrition requirements in the different stages of their lives. This is due to the absence of feed formulation and the processing knowledge, poor feed handling and storage techniques. As a result of poor feed handling and storage, the feeds are exposed to moisture, pests and bad weather. Thus, the feeds lose their nutrients especially nitrogen and phosphorus, then get spoiled which leads to lowered yield and poor economic results (Greener Journal for Agricultural Sciences, 2012).
TARGET AREA
The target area for my intervention is Siaya county which lies in the South West part of Kenya with in the Lake Victoria basin and borders other counties such as Kakamega, Vihiga and Kisumu. The total area of the county is about 〖2,496.1 km〗^2. It shares its water body with Homa Bay county. The total population of the county is at 842,304. The main economic activities of the county include subsistence farming, fishing, livestock keeping, rice farming and small-scale trading (County Integral Development Plan, 2013/2017).
STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS
The stakeholders that will use for my project will be divided into four. They include:
Target population
This are the fish farmers who will benefit from the project being put in place. They have high influence and power over the project. The fish farmers will benefit from the project by the increase in the source of income they will obtain, improved nutrition from the fish and improved food security in their various households.
Decision makers
The stakeholders who are involved include: Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives and County governments. They will be involved in creation and strengthening markets for the fish farmers thus improving domestic trade. They will also help alleviate poverty in the country, work with the implementors to facilitate training for the fish farmers and have a role to play in increasing food security in the county. The decision makers have high influence and power over the project.
Financer
The Department for International Development will be play an important role on the impact on food security as well as work with other sectors in the facilitation of training. It has a high influence and medium power over the project.
Implementors
It includes non-governmental organizations such as the Farm Africa and local fishing Sacco known as Kilimo biashara who will have an impact on food security in the county, provide vocational and technical training for the fish farmers as well as provision of financial support in terms of credit and saving departments. They have medium influence and high power. The community will also be implementors as well as beneficiaries as they will benefit from having fish available and accessible. It has low influence and power over the project.
STRATEGY DESCRIPTION
With fish farming in Kenya growing rapidly, the problems of fish feed being expensive and lack of knowledge on fish feed needs to be addressed. The Food and Agriculture framework for food security depicts a logic flow of how food security relates to the various levels in a country and how they are closely linked (See Table 1 in annex).
National, sub-national and community levels
This involves the socio-economic, institutional, cultural, political and natural environment factors that affect food security. The use of organic fertilizers will improve the market conditions for fish farmers. With the help of various stakeholders, fish markets will be better for the population of the county as well as that of the country. This will improve food availability as there will be domestic production of fish. Not only will the fish be available for the local community, it will also be imported to other parts of the country. The price of the fish in the market was dependant on the price of the fertilizers at that moment. As the organic fertilizers will be cost effective for the fish farmers, there will be no hiking of prices as they will use the locally available fertilizers. Working with the government will enable bringing up policies that will enhance fish farming not only in the county but in the country to enhance markets for the fish farmers. Food stability will then lead to access to food for the people as there will be more purchasing power for the community as the fish will be at a cheaper price due to stability in prices. The farmers will also have a strengthened market system with the stability of the economy and political factors. Aquaculture systems emit low carbon footprint compared to other terrestrial animals which means it is environmentally friendly. The project will involve both female and male fish farmers to enhance women empowerment.
Household level
When the pillars of food security are addressed at the national and community level, the at the household level will improve in terms of its livelihood strategies, assets and activities. The strategies include:
1 Human capital- the fish farmers will gain knowledge from various stakeholders on fish farming.
2 Natural capital- the use of organic fertilizers from both farm animals and green manure other than the use of commercial manure.
3 Financial capital- stakeholders such as kilimo biashara is a Sacco that can provide loans to the fish farmers as well as saving money in it.
4 Physical capital- fish farmers will use be trained on where to store the feeds as well as ways of applying manure in the ponds to improve the quality of fish.
5 Social capital- trade markets will be enhanced by building networks with the help of stakeholders involved.
The strategies will then improve household access to food which will in turn improve the care practices. With the training given to the fish farmers, they will get to learn the importance of fish and other foods so that with the income they obtain from selling the fish they can use it to buy a variety of food and diversify the diet. The intrahousehold food distribution, eating habits and feeding practices will then be enhanced due to increased income and food diversification. The quality of the fish feed will affect the quality and safety of the fish. If the fish are feed with high quality and nutritious food, then the health and sanitation of the households will improve.
Individual level
Once the household level of food security is enhanced then the consumption of the food will increase the level of nutrient and energy. Fish is not only an important source of protein but also other forms of nutrients such as lipids, vitamins A and D, calcium, iodine, zinc, iron and selenium. The body will then utilize the nutrients found in the fish which will enhance the health status of an individual and eventual improve the nutritional status.
Goal
To attain all four pillars of food security thus working towards achieving sustainable development goal two which is zero hunger.
Outcomes
To improve the quality of fish feed with the help of training from the stakeholders.
To enhance the market for the fish farmers thus improve their income.
Improve the diet diversification and nutritional status of the household.
Duration and approach
The project is to run for 1 year from June 2018- June 2019 where the farmers will learn more on fish farming. The overall approach that will be the use of organic fertilizers from farm animals such as chicken and pigs are excellent for fish ponds. The manure from the farm animals that are fed on commercial feeds contains more nutrient quality compared to those that feed on grass. This means that the manure needed for a fish pond from animals fed on commercial feeds is less than that required from grass fed animals to accomplish the same results. The organic fertilisers decompose and releases nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium which is used by the phytoplankton for growth and reproduction compared to the. They also provide the requires nutrients and attachment sites for bacteria and microscopic organisms. Generally, they provide the fish with direct nutrients that enhance fish production as they are easy to digest. Green manure also known as plant manure can be used as fish pond fertilizer. It is obtained from garden weeds, spoiled fruits and vegetables, vegetable matter and grass. They are then cut into small pieces then mixed together into a composite pile which decomposes to form the actual manure. The combination of both animal and green manure will form the best manure for the fish pond.
Monitoring & Evaluation
Record keeping of how they feed the fish and at what time to measure the quality of the fish through taking the measurements of turbidity in the fish ponds and total number of nitrogen and phosphorus. Household Economy Approach will also be used as a way of monitoring. The indicators that will be used include: the increase in demand and supply of fish farmed, improved health and nutrition status of the households, increased involvement of families in fish farming and overall enhanced food security in the family. Report writing will be done at the end of the report to evaluate how successful the project was.