By Sharon Atieno Onyango
To increase uptake of opportunities in the Blue economy particularly in the coastal region, Kenya has received Ksh 10 billion worth of funding from the World Bank.
The project dubbed Kenya Marine Fisheries and Socio-Economic Development (KEMFSED) focuses on improving management of priority fisheries and mariculture and increasing access to complementary livelihood activities among coastal communities.
The project which started in 2020 and runs until 2025 covers Kwale, Mombasa, Kilifi, Tana River and Lamu counties.
To achieve its objective, the project focuses on three components. The first component deals with strengthening capacity in governance and management of marine fisheries. It includes strengthening fisheries management with regards to national policies and planning, strengthening co-management structures in nearshore fisheries management and development of infrastructure to support the management of fisheries at the national, county and community levels.
The second component is on coastal community empowerment and livelihoods through technical and financial support. The support includes demand-driven sub-projects and complementary capacity-building and training of beneficiaries. This includes livelihood productive grants targeting about 20,000 households across the five counties.
The third component is on project management. Financial support is given to the project management at both national and county levels to ensure coordinated and timely execution of activities. Project Coordination and Management implements activities supporting national and county-level project coordination and management, including development of communication technology (ICT)-based platforms, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system.
With overfishing posing a serious challenge to some fisheries, the project has prioritized snapper fisheries in the North Kenya Banks, small-scale purse seine (ringnet), small-scale line-caught tuna, shallow water prawn, octopus, and the inshore and creek basket trap.
The project will increase coastal households’ access to complementary livelihood activities to diversify their sources of income and reduce dependence on capture fisheries.
By better managing and conserving marine and inland water resources, reducing illegal fishing activity, and enhancing the value of the fish products in the fisheries value chains, KEMFSED is expected to enhance the sector’s contribution to the overall economy.
Already, KEMFSED has funded 1,263 community projects worth Ksh3.37 billion across the coastal counties, supporting livelihoods and strengthening the communities’ resilience.
The project is in line with the recently launched National Blue Economy Strategy (2025-2030) aims to grow annual blue economy earnings from KSh 40 billion to KSh 350 billion by 2030.
The Strategy covers nine thematic areas including sustainable fisheries, aquaculture, and aquatic ecosystems; maritime transport and trade; renewable energy and extractive mineral resources; sustainable and facilitative blue economy tourism, human resource capacity development; governance in the blue economy; financing for sustainable blue economy development; capacity building and innovation; social equity and environmental sustainability.
