Kenya backs ‘farmer friendly’ training

A NATIONAL aquaculture curriculum has been launched in Kenya to promote tilapia farming on Lake Victoria.

The modular curriculum, which will be offered in various vocational training institutions, polytechnics and colleges throughout the country, is part of joint efforts to sustain the declining fish population in Lake Victoria, reported Daily Nation.

It will also enhance sustainable ways to protect the lake’s environment and eradicate poverty by creating alternate livelihoods other than lake fishing.

The curriculum - part of the Trilateral Tilapia Cooperation - is being supported by Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, the German Development Cooperation Agency, and the Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Agency for International Development Cooperation.

Speaking during the launch, the programme’s deputy manager, Ladislao Di Domenica, said the curriculum seeks to promote hands-on training.

‘This farmers-friendly flexible curriculum, currently running in institutions such as Ramogi Institute of Advanced Technology, Jewlet Fish Farm, and Lake Basin Development Authority in Kisumu, comprises 70 per cent practical hands-on aspects of learning and 30 per cent theoretical and, with it, we expect to boost aquaculture and ensure the region’s and country’s tilapia productivity goes up,’ said Di Domenica.