Post-harvest interventions in small-scale fisheries: a boon or bane to food and nutritional security in Kenya?

Abstract

Small-scale fisheries in Kenya contribute about 4.7% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in spite of high post-harvest losses. Post-harvest interventions in fisheries enable fishers and fish processors to reduce waste, maintain nutritional aspects and meet stringent demands in food quality and safety. This review highlights the benefits and pitfalls of various fish post-harvest management interventions in order to drive policy dialogue and formulation of a regulatory framework for future interventions. It relies on data obtained from the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute and the State Department of Fisheries and Blue Economy. Results depict abundant interventions in both handling and processing, but low utilization (<40% of installed cold rooms, dryers and smoking kilns) and multiplication by fishing communities. Fish products that target export markets have wellorganized structures. However, a weak regulatory framework is a key constraint in addressing post-harvest management of fish intended for the domestic market. Under-utilization of installed interventions results in continued waste of fish, contributing to food and nutritional insecurity. This review recommends the development of an effective and integrative policy framework that involves interactions across different domains, institutional mechanisms that monitor and address those interactions, analytical bases for decision making, and multi-stakeholder dialogue for post-harvest management. Such policies will enhance the adoption of post-harvest technology in small-scale fisheries in Kenya and elsewhere.

Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) infestation cycle and interactions with nutrients and aquatic biota in Winam Gulf (Kenya), Lake Victoria

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Lake Victoria, the largest freshwater lake in Africa, supports local livelihoods through the provision of food, energy, drinking, irrigation water, transport and as a sink for human and industrial waste (Gichuru et al, 2019;Odoli et al, 2019). Over the past decades, however, the lake has faced major challenges because of an increase in human population in its basin, leading to an increased discharge of industrial and municipal effluents into the lake, poor land-use systems, mismanagement and destruction of wetlands.

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Lake Victoria’s bounty: A case for riparian countries’ blue economic investment

“…This species has a high turnover rate and can be resilient to heavy predation and exploitation (Irvine et al, 2019;Kolding et al, 2019). Currently, Dagaa accounts for ca 60% of the total catch, but substantial quantity and quality is lost due to poor post-harvest handling (SmartFish, 2011;Odoli et al, 2019). Lake Victorian Dagaa is traditionally dried in the Sun on the ground, grass, matting, or old fishing nets.…”

Effects of fisheries policy implementation strategies on regulatory compliance in the small-scale fisheries sector in Lake Victoria: A case study of Busia County, Kenya

“…Lake Victoria is the world's second largest freshwater lake with significant socioeconomic and environmental benefits to the riparian communities. Lake Victoria accounts for over 80% of freshwater fish production in Kenya and directly employs about 1.2 million people in the fisheries value chain [1,4,5] . With the contribution of about 1% to the country's yearly Gross Domestic Product (GDP), fisheries have become an important source of food and nutrition security and employment for the common population.…”