| dc.description.abstract | Profitability is key in fish farming, just as it is to any other enterprise. For the farmers
to actualize high-profit margins, it is imperative to have access to well-balanced
nutritive and cost-effective feeds, backed by sound on-farm feed management practices.
This paper audits Kenya’s fish feed industry and the on-going on-farm feed
management practices, and emerging opportunities for fish farmers. The development
of fish feed quality standards has boosted the aquaculture sector in Kenya, providing
them hope that farmers will access high quality fish feeds. Much of the fish feed
currently being used in Kenya is produced on-farm or by small-scale fish feed
manufacturers within the East African region, while a few are imported directly from
overseas countries, notably Israel, Netherlands, Mauritius and Denmark. Fish feeds
produced by small-scale manufacturers are not closely monitored by quality standard
agencies and not surprising that a majority are of poor quality. The improvement in the
quality of these feeds is likely to lead to increased productivity and profitability
because they are cheaper and readily available to fish farmers, compared to imported
fish feeds. Besides feed quality, feed management practices markedly impact both the
growth and economic performance of fish production. Adopting appropriate feed
management strategies, therefore, is instrumental in the maximization of fish
production and economic returns. Research has demonstrated several strategies for best
feed management practices, which have not hitherto, been adopted by fish farmers in
Kenya. Farmers have mainly focused on the mode of delivery of feeds to the fish.
Furthermore, promoting natural pond productivity and supplementary feeding is still a
common practice in the East African region. Provision of species-specific feeds and
targeting the nutritional requirements of the different life stages of fish is still a major
issue, although some local companies like Unga Farm Care (EA) have come up with a
size and species-specific feed for catfish such as Fugo catfish®. To improve access to
such information, public-private partnerships should be developed and, programmes
that utilize the local media platforms such as extension service outlets must also be
encouraged. Feed quality checks can also be carried out amongst fish feed suppliers.
Lastly, farmers should be trained in various fish feed aspects like formulation,
transportation and storage to sustain a steady fish feed supply and save on associated
feed costs. | en_US |
