Women are increasingly breaking barriers and taking on leadership roles in the aquaculture, thus contributing to the sector’s growth.
For instance, women in Vihiga have taken up the role in various aspects of aquaculture hitherto dominated by men.
They are involved in various aspects of aquaculture including pond construction and installing nets around their ponds which is a male dominated sector.
Technical officers from Directorate of Fisheries hosted a comprehensive demonstration on installation of nets around the fish pond in Gisambai ward, Hamisi Sub County, provided under the Norwegian Agency for Development Corporation (NORAD)-Advancing Resilient Nutrition Sensitive Aquaculture (ARNSA) grant, an exercise that saw women being on the forefront in taking up the role.
The exercise involved strategically placing strong poles around the pond, leaving enough room for accessibility during feeding and fishing.
This was followed by carefully installing the predator nets, which were fitted around the sides of the pond, while bird nets extended over the top and along the edges, creating protective barriers.
Area Member of County Assembly (MCA) Erick Odei who took part in the exercise thanked all the 33 beneficiaries from ward for the good work and encouraged them to take fish farming as a business opportunity
He further emphasized on supporting all the farmers in order to ensure sustainability of the project.
The project Fisheries’ Technician Anyonnyi Octavian Jonathan who was taking the farmers through stated that the exercise was important as farmers could now work on their own come next season.
He said that women participation has shown how women are taking up aquaculture, changing the trend as they take up active fish farming in the county.
The exercise was conducted in all the 20 working areas (wards) in Vihiga County so that farmers could implement the same in their farms.
By Rose Wasike
