The Dutch and Turkana County governments are in the process of assessing the potential of the fishing sector in the county with a view to investing in the sector.
Dutch ambassador to Kenya Maarten Brouwer and Governor Josphat Nanok on Thursday led their senior officers to a meeting in Lodwar to share an economic analysis assessment report on the potential of the fishing industry and areas that needed to be addressed to make the industry sustainable.
Amb. Brouwer said the analysis showed Lake Turkana has potential but required more assessments to ensure suitable exploitation of the fishing industry.
He said an economic analysis had been conducted and what remained was to analyze the sustainability of the programme.
He added that in the next few months, the Dutch government would make a decision on whether to support the programme and how to go about it.
Nanok lauded the Dutch government for the interest it had shown in supporting the fishing industry in the county.
He said they had discussed the economic analysis report of the fishing industry in Turkana.
The discussions were a follow-up to previous meetings that culminated in the economic assessment analysis report.
Nanok said, “We had discussed about seven months ago and agreed that Dutch government would support the county government to do the assessment and determine the potential of the fishing industry and how it can be exploited by bringing on board the private sector.”
He said the partners wanted to see what areas of the value chain of the fishing sector they could invest in to make the industry more sustainable and also more beneficial to the local community.
He added that more support assessments would be conducted to trigger the economic potential of Lake Turkana and that if well exploited the lake would help communities to deal with vagaries of drought.
An analysis assessment was conducted in Turkana and Marsabit counties.
By Peter Gitonga/Fammy Masiza
