Kenya Secures Deal With Uganda to Ensure Smooth Transit Of Fish To The DRC

Fish traders in Busia have a reason to smile after the Kenya and Uganda governments entered into a deal to come up with a framework that will allow for smooth transit of fish from Lake Turkana to the Democratic Republic Of Congo without any interference.

The Principal Secretary for Aquaculture, blue economy, and fisheries, Francis Owino stated that the journey for developing the document began on March 1, 2022, when a delegation from both Kenya and Uganda traveled to Turkana to establish the source of dry fish.

“We were able to discuss and agree on several issues including setting up a multi-agency team headed by respective County commissioners of Turkana, Samburu, Marsabit, and Busia.

The technical teams worked well leading to the culmination of the framework of a smooth transition of fish from Lake Turkana to DRC Congo through Uganda”, Said Mr. Francis Owino.

The transition comes only a few months after Kenyan fish traders staged demonstrations when Ugandan Authority confiscated their consignment meant for DRC.

The purpose of the framework according to Ugandan Permanent Secretary for Agriculture and Fisheries Major General David Kasura, is to ensure that fish traders sustainably utilize the fish resources.

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He went on to urge the fish traders to apply the framework and go to the fish trade and do it sustainably.

In October 2021, Ugandan authorities confiscated around 40 tons of fish on transit to the Democratic Republic of Congo arguing that they were immature fish obtained from Lake Victoria on the Ugandan side.

This caused great losses for the Kenyan fish traders running into millions of shillings.

Part of the new framework calls for joint inspection of the fish consignment by both Kenyan and Ugandan authorities at the Busia One-Stop Border Post before they proceed to their destination.

Kenya can produce 14 million tons of fish a year with a value of 50 billion shillings, a 2013 report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated. This is if it uses all 1.4 million hectares identified as suitable for fish farming.

At the same time, data shows that Lake Victoria was the biggest inland source in 2014, 2015, and 2016. In 2016 the lake produced 90.7 percent of the local harvest, a rise from 81.9 percent in 2012.

In its Fish to 2030 report, the FAO says Kenya is one of the major countries influencing global prices for freshwater fish. But Taiwan, Honduras, and the US control 99 percent of the market for tilapia, which Kenya imports the most, according to local fisheries data.

Kenya’s future demand for fish is tied to population growth and efforts to meet consumption targets.

Researchers predict that there is a possible decline in Africa’s annual fish consumption per person from 10 kilograms in 2015 to 8.5 kilograms in 2030 and 7.7 kilograms in 2050.

Either way, China will continue to loom large in Kenya’s fish market until local production improves.