Fishery is a major economic activity in Busia, thanks to Lake Victoria that supports a huge population of fish including Nile Perch, Tilapia and omena.

There is also introduction of emerging alternative fish culture techniques, such as aquaculture that include open water cage culture, Land based ponds/aquaculture parks and backyard ponds and the Recirculatory Aquaculture System to boost the industry.

Busia County Government introduced open water fish cage enterprise as one of the flagship projects, which aims at providing alternative livelihood to fisherpeople with the goal of reducing fishing pressure in Lake Victoria waters of Busia.

Under this farming enterprise, Busia County Beach Management Unit (BMU) Network with support from the county government initiated an educational programme dubbed Beach Management Scholarship.

In 2020, the programme supported 214 pupils transitioning to Form One. In 2021, a further 240 pupils were supported by the programme. This brings the total number of students supported from Budalangi and Funyula sub counties to 454.

Margret Akumu, mother to one of the student beneficiaries said prior to this initiative she had challenges to raise school fees for her child, since she’s a small trader selling Omena and sometimes the waters are so unpredictable she ends up having nothing to sell yet she has children to take care of.

Akumu noted this programme has saved her a big deal since she can now see her child through secondary school without much worry about the student being sent home for school fees.

Her sentiments were echoed by Chrispinus Amukoye, student at St Benedict’s Budalangi high school, who gave his testimony of how he has posted quality grades in school thanks to the introduction of cage fish harvest at Mulukoba beach in Bunyala sub-county by Governor Sospeter Ojaamong’, adding he has never been sent home for school fees as was the case before.

Over 454 students have been supported from the programme to the tune of Sh7, 000. The total disbursed fees totalling to Sh4, 676,000.

The County Government through Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Project revived Wakhungu hatchery to produce quality fingerlings in efforts to ensure supply of quality and affordable fish fingerlings to fish farmers.

Fish hatcheries

To this end, the county has fully functioning fish hatcheries in Wakhungu and its satellite nursery in Okerebwa with a production capacity of 1.5 million fingerlings annually which are readily available to farmers at a subsidised fee. Their good quality has guaranteed yields to farmers.

 Through the directorate of fisheries, the county has established aquaculture production parks in Butula, Samia and Teso South sub-counties.

With the creation of this aqua park by the County Government of Busia, fish production is estimated to increase from the current Sh200 million annually to at least Sh1 billion by 2023, leveraging on economies of scale and increase per capita fish consumption in the county.

Fish farming and trade employs over 2,700 youth, men and women have benefited directly from pond construction activities. 

Each aqua park consists of at least 100 fish ponds of which the beneficiaries are the community. Fish trade is booming business in Busia county. 

There are 21 fish markets in the county. Among these is the cross-border fish market situated at the border of Busia town a fish trade hub.

The market handles fish valued at Sh2 billion annually. It receives fish from Lake Turkana, Lake Victoria, Lake Kyoga in Uganda and from fish farms then supplies to urban centres in Kenya, DRC Congo, Uganda, Southern Sudan and Rwanda.