@article{Ogello:334108,
      recid = {334108},
      author = {Ogello, Erick O. and Outa, Nicholas Otieno and Ouma,  Kizito O. and Kyule, Domitila N. and Munguti, MJ and  Obiero, OK},
      title = {Socio-economic consequences of imported frozen tilapia in  the Kenyan aquaculture value chain: Strategies for  optimizing local unexploited potential},
      journal = {African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and  Development},
      address = {2022},
      year = {2022},
      abstract = {Capture fisheries production sector, which is the main  source of consumed fish in Kenya has been declining over  the years, causing huge deficit in fish supply in local  market. Even though aquaculture has been fronted as a  step-gap measure, there are still eminent fish supply gaps,  prompting importation of frozen tilapia, mainly from China.  However, the imported fish has attracted numerous  socio-economic debates between proponents and opponents of  fish imports, almost in equal measure. This study  investigated the socio-economic consequences of the  imported tilapia in the local fish market and value chain  linkages in Kisumu County. Primary data were collected  using direct interviews with pre-set questionnaires fed  into Open Data Kit (ODK) platform, and observations from 60  randomly selected fishermen and 60 fish farmers, 100 fish  traders and 96 households. Key Informant Interviews (KII)  and Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) were also conducted.  About 57% of the respondents processed and traded on the  imported frozen tilapia, 27% of them traded on fish from  capture fisheries, while 16 % traded on fish from the local  aquaculture sector. Imported tilapia was the cheapest at  Ksh. 200/kg compared to the locally produced tilapia at  Ksh. 320/kg. At least 62 % of the households in Kisumu  consumed imported tilapia regularly due to lower prices and  availability. About 46 % of the respondents have gained  direct employment and experienced improved socio-economic  status due to the imported fish, of which 71 % are youth  and women. However, about 40% of the respondents reported  multiple job losses and degraded socio-economic status due  to poor market for the locally produced tilapia, whether  from the capture or culture sector. The study concluded  that the importation of frozen tilapia can potentially  reduce socio-economic returns from the local fisheries and  aquaculture value chains. A rational approach is to  optimize local fish production to saturate the local market  and potentially out-price the imported frozen tilapia.  Appropriate government policies tackling the importation of  fish into the country can also help reduce the negative  impacts of these imported fish on the local fish market  systems.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/334108},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.18697/ajfand.113.21985},
}