Inside construction of Kisumu multi-million aquaculture training centre

Work is advancing on the construction of the Kabonyo Kanyagwal Regional Fisheries and Aquaculture Training Centre of Excellence (BKRFATCE) in Kadibo Sub-County, Kisumu County.

The project is located on a 25-acre site, which was selected to accommodate extensive production and training infrastructure.

Civil works and structural framing are underway across the site. The master plan includes a large hatchery accompanied by 20 specialized fish ponds to scale up local seed production.

Contractors are also establishing a modern flood-control canal. This infrastructure is designed to manage water backflow from Lake Victoria, and handle seasonal overflows from the nearby River Nyando.

The building portfolio comprises administrative offices, staff quarters, and dedicated trainee dormitories to support residential training programs.

Once fully operational, the facility is projected to yield approximately 28 million fingerlings annually.

This production target is designed to restock Lake Victoria, where wild fish stocks have faced pressure, while supporting regional cage fish farming initiatives.

The center will also manufacture and supply affordable fish feeds and related aquaculture inputs, which remain a primary overhead cost for local fish farmers.

The primary beneficiaries of this supply chain include smallholder farmers across Kisumu, Homa Bay, Siaya, Migori, and Busia counties.

The project broke ground following an official ceremony led by President William Ruto, who commissioned the infrastructure development to address structural deficits in the blue economy.

Local aquaculture production has long been constrained by a shortage of high-quality fingerlings, a technical bottleneck that this specialized center is designed to eliminate.

By consolidating research, feed manufacturing, and mass seed production in a single location, the facility establishes a dedicated training hub for the entire Lake Region.

Engineers are currently monitoring the structural foundations of the hatchery and the routing of the flood-control channels, which are vital given the floodplain geography of Kadibo.