Adoption of Aquaculture Technologies and Management Practices, Challenges and Productivity of Fish-Ponds in Kakamega County, Kenya

Abstract

There is increasing demand for fish products worldwide. To meet the growing demand there has been increased shift from wild-caught fish to farm-based production. The adoption of best practices in aquaculture is imperative in meeting this natural demand. This study investigated the adoption of best technological and management practices, challenges and productivity of fish-ponds among smallholder aquaculture farmers in Kakemega County, Kenya. Purposive and stratified sampling techniques were used to select 27 aquaculture farmers in 3 out of 12 Sub counties in the area, for interviews. Nine recommended technologies and management practices were used to develop an adoption index for each interviewee. Fish pond productivity was significantly lower for adopters below the median index; t (24) = -3.088, P = .005, with a mean of 196.3 g/m2 for lower index adopters and 449.5 g/m2 for the higher index. Variances in productivity were high. The study finds that the major on-farm challenges included; fish predators, poor quality feeds, insecurity and lack of quality fingerlings. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to test the deviation of views from neutral; score of 3 on a 5-point scale. Market unavailability was not a significant constraint.  There was high demand for fish products. Access to technical information was above 3 (median =4). Risk rating significantly deviated from neutral; there was a view that aquaculture was a risky venture. There were no extreme views on its profitability. In conclusion, the adoption of the technologies aided the productivity. The fish-pond productivity was relatively low and faced major challenges that need to be addressed to enhance the adoption of best practices and increase output from the ponds. Actions by stakeholders to address the challenges both at farm level and at policy level are recommended. Training on risk management strategies for the aquaculture farmers is recommended.