Aquaculture firm Take Farm Limited has petitioned the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) to safeguard its Lake Victoria tilapia cage farm project from the impact of an impending expansion by rival Victory Farms.
The firm, which operates cage farms around Nyagwethe, Juidendi, and Ngeri beaches in Homa Bay County, wants the regulator to enforce zone limits to protect its business from encroachment.
“Therefore, having invested over Sh300 million, Take Farm Limited requests the following guarantees before licensing Victory Farms Limited’s expansion project; the company’s aquaculture production zone biosafety and biosecurity zone be protected from encroachments; Victory Farm Ltd’s aquaculture activities not to interfere with the operations of Take Farm Ltd,” said Jimmy Sakhasia, the managing director of Take Farm Limited, in a petition to Nema dated September 23, 2024.
Take Farm demanded that Nema enforces a 500-metre buffer zone between its cage farms and those of rival Victory Farms.
Victory Farms is set for a Sh750 million expansion of its tilapia cage farming project in Lake Victoria amid growing demand for white meat, regulatory filings show.
The disclosures showed that the project, to be implemented in new concession areas around Sindo, Homa Bay County, will involve the expansion of the company’s existing sustainable tilapia cage production by approximately 30,000 tonnes per year.
“The proposed commercial sustainable tilapia cage farming expansion with an approximate production of 30,000 metric tonnes per year in new concession blocks in Lake Victoria‘s Litare, Jiudendi, Ngeri, Nyagwethe, Kamogo, Uterere, and Kisegi beaches in Suba South Sub-County, Homa Bay County,” Lakers Consultancy Ltd said in filings to Nema on behalf of Victory Farms.
Fish cage farming involves the setting up of a netted enclosure that is suspended in the lake and containing fingerlings. The fish are fed and tended to in the cage. The harvest cycle for cage fish is about one year per cage.
“The proponent will use floating surface cages in the project. The proponent will make use of modern HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene) cages that are plastic in nature and more durable. They will be 30 metres in diameter and 10 metres in depth given the lake bottom depth of over 30 metres.
Thus, the difference between cage bottom and lakebed is 20 metres, making oxygen circulation optimum for juvenile tilapia fingerlings,” Victory Farms said in its filing.
The expansion plans come in the wake of a mega-fundraising by Victory Farms that aims to grow its operations in Africa. In April 2023, Victory Farms raised $35 million (Sh4.5 billion) from venture capital investors to expand its operations in Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Uganda.
The funds were raised by investors led by Creadev, a global VC and growth evergreen investor, to help the firm create more jobs, and support businesses in its supply chain, and provide nutritious meals across the region.
Other investors include Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund, DOB Equity, Endeavor Catalyst Fund, and Hesabu Capital.
Victory Farms’ founders and angel investors, including Joseph Rehmann, Steve Moran, Kamran Ahmad, and Hans den Bieman also invested in the transaction.
Cage fish farming has gained traction in Lake Victoria, with more than 4,000 cages in concentrated on the Kenyan side of the water mass. Many of the cages are individually owned even though more corporations such as Victory Farms are eyeing aquaculture opportunities in the lake.
There has, however, been pressure to regulate cage farming in the lake as more groups enter the business in search of better returns.
The Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute warns that sustainable cage farming requires strict adherence to proper husbandry procedures because lapses can cause ecological degradation, resulting in changes in water quality and biotic structure.
