The Kakamega county government is set to host a regional fish research institute to serve the larger Western region and boost the blue economy.
County executive for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives Benjamin Andama said the county government will provide land while the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) will finance the construction.
The county government hosted a delegation from KMFRI on Thursday and Friday to deliberate on the project.
The delegation led by the institute’s director for corporate services Abraham Kagwima toured Matawa area in Mumias West, which is being considered for the institute.
The delegation also visited potential sites for the project in Khwisero and Matungu subcounties.
KMFRI is the leading research institute in the country on marine and fisheries for sustainable development of the blue economy.
It has 12 research centres nationally including Turkana, Baringo, Shimoni, Naivasha, Kisumu, Mutonga, Gazi, and Sagana.
The institute, which is headquartered in Mombasa, is expanding its operations to other regions under the Blue Economy programme which is a key priority by the government under the Bottom-Up Transformative Agenda.
The project envisages the construction multiples fish ponds, state-of-the-art research labs, fish feed processing plant, fingerlings hatchery, admin block, fish farmers training centre, and a convention centre.
Researchers will also train farmers on modern fish farming techniques and link them to available markets.
Kakamega county has been collaborating with Kemfri on aquaculture-related ventures and in the past year made strides in enhancing fish farming, hence making the county a strategic partner for Kemfri in western Kenya to synergise with other existing centres.
