Abstract:
Fish farming contributes to the attainment of food and nutritional security by providing
high-quality fish proteins and micro and macro nutrients thereby minimizing hidden hunger.
Fish supply in Kenya is mostly from capture fisheries, particularly fresh water lakes that
contribute more than 90 per cent of the total fish produced. Agri-food supply chains involve
the flow of products and information, and activities from production through to processing
and consumption. Through value addition, at each stage, the value is increased along the
chain. Traceability enhances tracking and tracing of fish and fish products information in
the supply chains. A situational assessment was conducted along the farmed fish value
chain in Kirinyaga County in Kenya in June and July 2013. The objective of the study was
to assess traceability along the farmed fish value chain. Data was collected using semistructured questionnaires and data analysis was done using SPSS version 16 software.
Most farmers stocked mixed sex tilapia in monoculture, which led to over-breeding and
harvesting of small-sized fish, while the market demand was for table-sized fish. The
high cost of inputs, especially feeds, increased the cost of production. Value addition was
limited as most farmers did not have enough quantities of fish to facilitate value addition.
Traceability was limited; only a few farmers kept operations records and most of them
did not share production information with other stakeholders in the chain. The study
recommends capacity building through training on value addition and traceability along
the value chains.
