Hezron Oyanda is a former teacher who runs Rabisa Fish Farm in Rangwe, Homa Bay County.
The 70-year-old has majored in fingerlings farming, producing over 240,000 fingerlings every month, most of which he sells to farmers.
Oyanda’s customers are farmers spread across the country.
Here is his story as told by WoK.
According to an article on Nation, Oyanda worked as a teacher until 1994 when he decided to apply for early retirement.
Following his retirement, he decided to go into farming and started engaging in horticulture between 1995 and 1997.
Oyanda thought of going into farming after coming across a piece of land covered with eucalyptus trees with a stream flowing nearby.
He kicked off his farming career with horticulture but he later ditched it as it was not lucrative and as such, his income was not sustainable.
He went into fish farming in 2002 after the land became muddy as soon as he uprooted the eucalyptus trees.
Today, the six-acres piece of land has 15 fish ponds; five have been set aside for brooding, four for sex reversal ponds and six nursery ponds.
A section of the land was turned into a small forest used for beekeeping.
Oyanda started with 500 fingerlings on an eight by four metres pond.
“I travelled to Rongo to buy fingerlings. They were supplied by the Lake Basin Development Authority,” he said.
In 2009, Oyanda dug his second fish pond and he was lucky to be one of the beneficiaries when the government was implementing an economic stimulus programme.
With the funds he got, he dug two additional ponds and later got fingerlings from the Fisheries department.
He managed to harvest 200 kilograms of fish some eight months later, showing him the potential tha the venture had.
Oyanda later landed a scholarship opportunity to learn about aquaculture and he was taught by experts drawn from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Senegal.
“I studied hatchery management, I wanted to produce fingerlings to enable other farmers to start aquaculture business,” he said.
Following the completion of his training, Oyanda decided to focus on fingerling production.
He uses his homemade hatchery for the production.
“Eggs are obtained from female fish which keep them in their mouths after mating. The eggs are taken to the hatchery for the process to begin,” Oyanda said.
He explained that eggs take three days in the hatchery before they hatch.
“As water flows from an overhead tank, it fertilizes the eggs before it drains into the ponds. Fingerlings swim to a holding container awaiting transportation into the pond,” Oyanda added.
Oyanda imports fish feeds from Egypt and Zambia.
The feeds include the Ultra series which are sold at Ksh 4,400 per 10-kilogram bag and Alfa Aqua at Ksh 5,100 per 25kg bags.
He faces among other challenges the cost of feed which he says they are heavily taxed.
