It is curious that Kenya imported fish worth Sh1.7 billion from China last year considering that the two countries are about 8,000 kilometres apart. But even more curious is the fact that the government has not found it fit to encourage more local harvesting and production of fish and fish products to reduce the amount of money the country has been spending on imports.
Yet, doing so will create many jobs as well as a large supply chain for those who produce the fish, those who supply them with inputs and those who buy the fish. Already, the balance of trade between Kenya and China is in China's favour and policy makers should start exploring ways through which this gap can be bridged.
Why should Kenya keep importing large volumes of fish from China, or any other country for that matter, when the ministry responsible for fisheries can put in place incentives to boost fish production locally?
In the past, fishermen, especially at the Coast, have protested that they are constrained by lack of the right equipment for deep sea fishing. It would, therefore, make long-term economic sense for the government to provide incentives for investors who buy or lease such equipment to ensure that the country better exploits its marine resources.
As it is now, Kenyan waters are exploited by illegal fishing vessels which extract this wealth without paying due taxes, making the country a double loser. Improving transport and other supporting infrastructure in counties with fresh water lakes where fish is found would also increase supply of fish from those areas to the rest of the country where it is consumed.
This is something that both the national and county governments can collaborate on to streamline the supply chain. Lake Victoria, which has traditionally been a leading source of fish, has been constrained by water hyancinth and pollution in recent years. Whereas steps have been taken to extract the hyancinth, more work needs to be done to combat pollution, which is a leading cause of fish deaths.
Aquaculture also promises to supplement the market for fish from lakes and the ocean and this too needs to be deliberately promoted and money spent to fund research on how fish from ponds can be made better, more profitable and more readily available. All this, however, requires deliberate policy interventions. The government should rise to the challenge.
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