Meet the farmerHow a Kenyan business administration graduate ventured into aquaculture

Tell us about your journey into aquaculture?

I started farming in 2013, after I received an insurance payment from a car accident. I was paid Ksh300,000 ($2,312), which I invested into the business. Before that, my dad had constructed one pond and stocked it, but the fish all died, so it became a challenge for us to solve. Although I had a passion for rearing fish I did not have sufficient capital until I was involved in the accident.

Before starting I visited Kenya Marine Fisheries and Research Institute as well as some fish farmers in Mtwapa, Kilifi. After acquiring the knowledge that I needed, I bought 500 tilapia fingerlings that I started with. Apart from that, I purchased some goldfish fingerlings and put them in a concrete pond that I had built.

Which species of fish do you now rear?

Tilapia and catfish fingerlings, as well as some ornamental fish – common goldfish, black mollies, and koi carps.

What’s your capacity?

In a month we can produce between 150,000 and 200,000 fingerlings, depending on when we have orders. But we are planning to increase production to up to 600,000 per month, in the near future. We are looking for partners who we will collaborate with to ensure that this dream comes true. Once we find them, we will be good to go.

Which type of ponds do you use, and how many do you have?

At the moment we have five liner ponds, which we put excess fingerlings, and many concrete ponds. We also have five tilapia breeding tanks and 30 smaller tanks.

Where did you source the initial fingerlings when starting?

We got most of them from Sagana, but we also imported male-only tilapia from Til-Aqua in the Netherlands.

What kind of feeds do you use and where do you source them from?

We use Unga Feeds. I am also getting some (commercial feeds) from Nairobi. We are using black soldier flies to supplement our feeds, and currently we are picking up a lot from the market. We aim to cut our feed cost by about 50 percent through using soldier flies. We also rear black soldier flies which we use to feed the fish. We started black soldier fly farming three years ago. We spent Ksh10,000 (around $77) to buy the first colony. We feed them with fruit waste and wheat bran, among other feeds.

What are some of the management practices that you carry out in the farm?

Checking the water levels in the fishponds every day. In addition, we normally check the temperatures and take remedial measures if there is need to. Also, in case there is insufficient oxygen in the fishponds, we make sure that it is pumped in.

Cleaning of the ponds is also one of the things that we do each and every day. The fingerlings and the mature fish are fed three times per day – in the morning, afternoon and evening.

Apart from that, the workers harvest the fingerlings when there are some orders. We also train farmers who visit the farm and all those who are interested like students who sometimes come for training from various learning institutions.

How many employees do you have at the farm?

Including the family members, we are seven workers.

Are there challenges from predators?

Yes, there is normally a challenge from predators, but we have added some shade nets that help to keep off the birds.

Where do you sell your fish?

We sell our fingerlings to farmers and farmers’ groups. We are still working out the ornamental fish market and are trying to create our own ornamental broodstock.

How much do you sell your fish for?

We sell the tilapia fingerlings for Sh10 ($0.077) each, and catfish fingerlings for Ksh15 ($0.116) each. In terms of the ornamentals we sell the common goldfish for Ksh150 ($1.16) per inch, and the koi carp for between Ksh350 ($2.7) and Ksh400 ($3.08) per piece.

What advice would you give to anyone intending to venture into aquaculture?

They should just have resilience, patience, determination and focus – you don’t get your returns immediately. But, if you put your mind to it, you can make money.

What are some of the challenges?

Actually, aquaculture is about water quality. So if you don’t use quality cold water, you will lose your fish. If the water is not clean and there is a bit of mismanagement, you will have a big crisis.

What are your future plans?

To expand and to set up a RAS. It is quite expensive, but once we do that we will be able to produce as many as one million fingerlings per month.