Iviani Farm’s fish hatchery provides high-quality tilapia and catfish fingerlings and consultancy services to help farmers establish and operate profit-making fish farms in arid& semi-arid areas, where fish farming was virtually unheard of.
Fish farming is very low in arid and semi-arid areas due to lack of enough water, lack of quality fish seeds, and general inadequacy of fish farming technology know-how. However, fish is the cheapest and health source of animal protein compared to all other sources of animal protein, such as beef, chicken, and lamb, and thus can be used to address malnutrition among poor communities.
In addition, most farmers are afraid to go into fish farming due to limited knowledge of its viability and how it works, such as how to construct a fishpond, how to feed the fish(feeding regimes), how to address diseases, etc. Farmers often need support in designing fishponds to avoid constructing unreliable aquaculture systems, which collapse, leading to losses. Existing farmers also need education on sustainable aquaculture practices, as many people practicing aquaculture are doing it at a subsistence level.
Iviani Farm is a pioneer of fish farming in arid & semi-arid regions where it supports farmers to start and establish fish farming by:
Iviani Farm has partnerships with ATC Makueni County for training and KamuthangaFarm for sourcing of highest quality broodstock (parent stock).
The farm sources broodstock from Kamuthanga Farm which ensures quality fish seeds, with a faster growth rate, reaching the required table size within 4-6 months.
Through training and support of all aquacultural practices, including establishing recirculatory systems for water conservation, especially for farmers in arid and semi-arid areas, thus making fish farming possible in such areas.
The fish operation employs 6 people, of which 2 are trained in aquaculture and have expertise in hatchery management which includes fish breeding, grading, fish feeding, and so on.
